


Unspoken Words Hurt the Worst

by Mkayla94



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Clarke Griffin & John Murphy Friendship, Denial of Feelings, Domestic Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Endgame Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, Multi, One Night Stands, Protective Bellamy Blake, Slow Burn, Wise Octavia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2020-09-27 15:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 34,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20410099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mkayla94/pseuds/Mkayla94
Summary: Clarke leaves, working with other doctors in a foreign country, when she comes back it's not the warmest of welcoming committees. Everything has changed, she feels like she has lost her best friend, his new girlfriend may or may not have broken her nose, and Bellamy just wants everything to go back to how it was before she left, except his new girlfriend, who can't stand Clarke. There is a lot to be said, but are either of them brave enough to actually say it, or will they be forced into a situation that leaves them no choice but to face it head on.





	1. Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

> I am sure there are many mistakes throughout this, this is the first work I have ever actually let anyone read, or post. So be patient with me. Feel free to let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy.
> 
> I do not own any right to characters.

CLARK

Nine. Nine whole months. That's how long Clarke had been away from her friends and family. She didn't regret going and working with Doctors without borders, but as her plane was touching down at the Arcadia airport, she realized how long she had been away from home and just how much she missed it. She knew that surprises weren't really their thing, well except for Octavia who loved anything that involved a surprise, but she couldn't help it. So that's how she found herself, at baggage claims, at 3:30 in the morning. Despite the time, and the lack of sleep, she was feeling pretty giddy about her whole plan. She couldn't wait to surprise her friends.

It had been tough keeping in contact with them over the past few months. Between the time difference, the lack of service, and mostly lack of time, she really didn't get too many chances to talk to everyone. Not even her best friend and roommate. She tried to check in with Bellamy as much as she could. He worried if he didn't hear from her at least once a week. Worry is putting it lightly, after her first month there, it had been crazy getting into the swing of things, she hadn't had time to sit down and send off a message. By the time she had gotten onto a computer and logged into her email, she had at least 50 emails from him, by the end of them he was threatening to call whoever was in charge to make sure she was alive, or he was buying a ticket and heading out there.

He could be a bit over protective and dramatic for his friends and family. It was one of the things she loved most about her best friend, even if she was rolling her eyes as she typed out a quick response to let him know, 1. Yes, I am alive, 2. Yes, I am eating (well when she took the time), 3. Yes, I promise to message once a week so you know that I am okay. This seemed to appease him enough. She still got plenty of emails telling her how all of their friends were doing, Raven was seeing a new guy named Shaw. Murphey, was busy trying to remind Emori why she liked him in the first place. Octavia was teaching self-defense and kick boxing classes at the Y, Bellamy was proud that she was doing something for others but not happy that it had to be such a violent job, but her and Lincoln were happy. Monty and Harper were teaching seminars on how to survive if the world ended. Jasper was still trying to talk Maya into going on a date with him, he'd been trying to talk the girl into going out with him for about 3 months before she left. Miller finished up at the police academy and would be working at the precinct.

Clarke loved hearing about their family, she missed them all so much, but she knew what she was doing was worth it. Bellamy was still checking in, but as the months passed, his replies got shorter and shorter, and he never really said anything about himself. She didn't like that she was hearing less from him, but figured his class was taking up most of his time. He was teaching a new class on campus, and she knew how he threw himself into his work. She started to rely on Murphey for any information.

Clarke was walking up the driveway when she noticed a car parked on the street, in front of their house. The neighbors were always having company over, so they always had people parking in front of the house. She pulled out her keys, unlocking and letting herself in the front door, as quietly as she could. She looked around, it looked just like the day she headed off to the airport. She couldn't believe she was getting emotional over a house! “Pull yourself together, Clarke,” she told herself as she wiped at her eyes, slipping out of her jacket and shoes before tiptoeing up the stairs to Bellamy's room.

Clarke knew she wasn't the quietest person, but Bellamy was a heavy sleeper, so she wasn't too worried. She twisted the doorknob to his bedroom slowly peeking into his room. He had his blackout curtains drawn closed, so it was pitch black in his room. She opened the door a little wider, to be met by a fist to the face and thrown into a headlock. Clarke could feel the blood running down her face, she was pretty sure she heard and felt a sickening crunch. Her nose was broken. She had managed to get out a small whimper before the arms holding her, tightened on her windpipe, closing off her breathing. She was scrambling to get free, as everything started to go fuzzy and black. Her ears were ringing and she started to panic. The time she was kidnapped while she was away flashed into the forefront of her memory. She heard, well what she thought, was a loud roar as a light flipped on right before everything faded to black.

"Clarke! Clarke! Wake up, Clarke!"

Someone was leaning over her, saying her name, and shaking her arms. Where was she and why did her face hurt so bad? She was dizzy, but things were starting to come into focus.  
"Bellamy?" She blinked away the last of her blurred vision.  
"Clarke! You're awake, how do you feel? Are you okay?" He was looking down at her, face full of concern. Clarke still didn't know what was going on, or why she was laying on the ground to begin with. She tried to sit up, but she was still pretty dizzy.   
"Don't move, let me help you." Bellamy reached out, helping her prop up. She realized, she wasn't on the ground, she was on Bellamy's bed. How did she get here? The pain in her face was really starting to come in full force, she reached up to touch her face.  
"No, don't do that, your face is pretty messed up right now." She looked at him confused, blinking a few times, and the recent events flooded back to her.  
"Why the hell did you attack me?!" Bellamy quickly looked over his shoulder at the closed door.  
"It wasn't me, I'm so sorry! You need to see a doctor; your face is already bruising and pretty swollen." He winced as he looked her over.  
"I am a doctor! And, what do you mean, it wasn't you? Then who the hell was it?!" Just then, the door opened, and a very tall brunette walked in. Her lips set in a line, she looked closed off and cold.  
"It was me. You shouldn't be going into other people’s homes and bedrooms late at night, if you don't want to face the repercussions."  
Clarke shot a look between this woman and Bellamy, "this is my home!"  
Bellamy cleared his throat, shooting a glare at the other woman, "Echo, this is Clarke, Clarke this is Echo. My girlfriend."

Girlfriend?! What? Since when Does Bellamy Blake have a girlfriend? How did she not know that he had a girlfriend, she was his best friend! He hadn't said a word about her. Well, he hadn't really said much at all lately except to check in and make sure that she was alive. But, Raven didn't say anything either. This was all too much, Clarke moved to stand up, and felt herself sway.  
"Oh no you don't, you need to stay put, you took a nasty hit to the face, and the head when you fell." He again, shot a glare at Echo. From the look on her face, she didn't seem to care, honestly, she looked like she'd do it again in a heartbeat.  
This was all too much for Clarke, between the throbbing pain in her face, and the headache that was getting worse by the second, and to top it off, the betrayal of her best friend, she needed out. She got up, wobbly at best, but still she was up, and shoved past Bellamy. He tried to grab, but she was able to stumble out of his grasp. Echo just stared, as she walked past her, heading for the door. She could hear Bellamy storming up behind her.  
"Where in the hell do you think you are going?!"  
"To see a doctor, and get out of here." She looked over her shoulder at him briefly, "surprise. I'm home.” With that, she was out the door.  
Clarke pulled out her phone after she made it down the stairs, which was not easy. She could hear Bellamy struggling to get dressed and arguing with his new girlfriend. Thankfully they were arguing enough that it slowed him down, and gave her a chance to get out the front door with her bags. She had dialed Murphey, he was around the corner, and surprisingly they had gotten pretty close while she was away. He was the one to check in on her and keep her somewhat updated when Bellamy wasn't.  
Murphey had picked up on the second ring, all she had to say, was come get me. Murphey was pulling up as Bellamy was just opening the front door. Clarke wasn't going to give him time to stop her.  
Murphey jumped out, grabbed her bags and threw them in the open trunk, as Clarke climbed into the car, she didn't have to say anything else. He closed the trunk and got into the driver’s seat.  
"Murphey! Don't you dare drive away!" Bellamy was yelling loud enough to wake the neighborhood, without any care.  
Murphey unrolled his window just enough, "Sorry Bellamy, I don't have time to stay for breakfast, maybe another time."  
Leave it to Murphey to be a smartass in a stressful situation. He rolled up his window, and locked the doors just as Bellamy was grabbing the door handle. And then they were on the road, with Bellamy yelling at them from behind.  
Clarke knew deep down, that she probably should have stayed and talked to him, leaving the way she did was not okay, but she was in pain, she wasn't thinking clearly, and he had hurt her. He had gone on with his life, which she had expected him to, but she didn't expect him to cut her out and not let her know what was going on. She realized Murphey was talking to her. She turned to face him when she heard him suck in his breath.  
Oh right her face, she still hadn't seen it, but if it looked as bad as it felt, she was afraid to see it.  
"Did he do this to you?!" She laughed at the thought, Bellamy may have shut her out of his life, but he would never ever lay a hand on her.  
"No, I met his new girlfriend." This calmed him down a bit.  
"Yeah, Echo. Wasn't a huge fan, now definitely not a fan. We need to take you in, sorry Griffin, but your face has looked prettier." She smiled at that, well she tried, her face lit up in even more pain.   
"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea.”

Murphey had taken her to the hospital, and she had been admitted. Not only did she have a broken nose, but a broken cheek bone, and a pretty severe concussion. Luckily, she had gotten Dr. Jackson, she had worked with him before she took a leave of absence to do doctors without borders. She really liked him.  
"Well Clarke, you know how this goes, we have to keep you and watch out throughout the night because of the concussion, and keep an eye on those broken bones. I’m pretty nervous about your eye. Just tad bit closer and you could have some serious damage."  
She let out a sigh, this was not how she was supposed to be spend her first night back home.  
"Thanks, Jackson." He gave her a small smile, before heading out the door.   
Murphey was still with her, sitting in the chair by the window, typing away on his phone.  
"Thank you by the way, I forgot to say thank you for dragging you out of bed at this crazy hour and making sure I got here okay."  
"Don't mention it Griffin. Plus, this gets me out of work for the day, so it's a win for me too. Do you want to tell me how this all played out?" He finished typing something out before pocketing his phone.  
Clarke let out another sigh, "I wanted to surprise everyone. So, I took a cab home, and went to go wake Bellamy. I had no idea that I would be treated as an intruder in my own home. I opened the door and was greeted by Echo's fist, then choked out, and dropped to the floor." She motions to her face, "hence this masterpiece. When I came to, Bellamy was there. He introduced me to his girlfriend, the girlfriend I didn't even know existed." Murphey was good enough to look a little sheepish at that.  
"Yeah sorry, he asked us all not to tell you. He said he wanted to tell you when the time was right."  
"The right time would have been when he decided to get a girlfriend. Then all of this could have been avoided."  
"Yeah we all tried to tell him that, but, he is a Blake, you know how well they listen to others."  
"I know I probably shouldn't have run out of there like I did, but I was mad that he had left me out of his life, in some pretty severe pain, and..." She let the sentence hang.  
Murphey was not normally one to push, unless it was to drive you nuts, but she saw the concern on his face. "And? What else Clarke?"  
Her voice went quiet when she finally responded, "not everything was easy while I was away." She didn't say more, and he could see on her face, now was not the time. She wasn't ready. And just like that, she closed that all away, just in time for the door to open.   
In flooded Raven, Monty, Harper, Miller, and Jasper.  
"What in the world are you all doing here?!" She shot a glare at Murphey, he just shrugged his shoulders, "you wanted a surprise, so surprise!" If she had been able to reach him, she would have smacked him.  
"Guys, go back to bed, we can all catch up later." Clarke sighed.  
"Right, like we are leaving, we are all already out of our beds, plus do you know how hard it is to drag a grumbling Jasper out of bed? The deed has been done, no going back." She smiled at Raven.  
"I've missed you Reyes."

No one else got a word out, because the door was flying open, Octavia. Clarke groaned, she honestly had no idea how this was going to go.  
"Clarke! Your face! Bellamy sounded worried on the phone, I couldn't get much out of him but something about checking the hospital, so I got here as fast as I could." Her face looked more pissed off as she took in Clarke’s. "Who did this to you and why did you run leaving Bellamy in the street frantically calling me?"  
"Echo." It was all she had to say.  
Everyone let out a gasp and started to whisper as Octavia let it all out.  
"I told Bell, I told him not to trust her! I didn't like her the first time I met her. Now look what she has done! I swear, if I get my hands on her. No not if, when." Clarke could see this was not going well.  
"O, calm down. She thought I was an intruder, or at least that's what she said. Funny thing is, I didn’t even know that she exis-"  
The door slammed open before she could finish as a wild-eyed Bellamy came storming in.


	2. Chapter 2, Bellamy's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy tries to do what he feels is best, he just isn't sure exactly what the "best" is right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments! I appreciate the feedback. Here is chapter 2, it's not quite as long as the first chapter, or as dramatic. Here we get Bellamy's POV, and a little bit of how he is feeling and what's going on in his head.   
My best friend helped me out, she went through and edited for me, so hopefully there wont be as many mistakes.  
As I said before, feel free to tell me what you think! I plan to post pretty regularly, I am in the process of selling my house and buying a new one, so if i do slow down a tiny bit, that's why. I promise to finish this story for you guys! As of right now, I have no clue how many chapters it will be, just depends where the story line takes me.  
Hope you enjoy!

BELLAMY

Octavia was the first to say anything, "Bell, maybe we should step outside for a minute." He barely even acknowledged her. All he could see was Clarke, his best friend, who was currently lying in a hospital bed, her face so messed up she was hardly recognizable. He blamed himself for this. If he hadn't been such a chicken to tell her about Echo, maybe all of this could have been avoided. Ugh Echo, he didn't even know what he was going to do with that mess yet. All he knew was that he had to get to Clarke and make sure that she was okay. He still couldn't believe that she had ran off like that from him! He was worried about her, furious with her, and confused.

"Everyone out, I need to speak to Clarke." It wasn't a request, it was a demand. Everyone glanced around nervously, unsure of what to do. One more look at his face, and they decided it was best to step out. One by one, they started to file out. Clarke wouldn't look at him, anywhere but at him. Everyone had left the room, but Murphy, he was still sitting on the other side of her bed, like he hadn't even heard Bellamy tell everyone to leave, playing on his phone.

“You too, Murphy. Up and out."

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks."

Bellamy was about ready to lose it in the hospital, but before he could-

"Murphy, it's okay. Go ahead, I'll be fine. Plus, if you don't, I think the vein in Bellamy's forehead is going to rupture."

Murphy glanced between him and Clarke, finally deciding to listen to her, as he walked by, "try and take better care of her this time." He was gone before Bellamy could even respond, then it was just him and Clarke.

Now that they were alone, he didn't know if he should approach her, yell at her, or tell her how sorry he was first.

"Listen Bellamy, I don't blame you for what happened. I obviously should have just called and not tried to surprise you. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." She looked down at the blanket that was draped over her and ran her hands against the soft fabric.

"No, Clarke. THIS was not your fault. I am so sorry that it happened to you. I cannot say I'm sorry enough. I just don't get why you ran away from me?"

She let out a sigh, running a hand through her hair, it didn't go unnoticed by Bellamy the way that it was shaking.

"I was upset, in pain, and needed to get away from the situation. You needed to stay and be with your girlfriend." Clarke let out a little bit of a huff, "the girlfriend that I didn't know existed until her first met my face." She swallowed the lump that began to form in her throat.

He winced at that, he knew he should have told her a long time ago, him and Echo had been together for 6 months. Octavia kept bugging him, asking if he had told her yet. He kept telling himself that he was waiting for the right time, but honestly, he just didn't know how to and the right time never arose.

"I was going to tell you." 

"When, Bell? When you guys were engaged? When you were moving out to live with her? When were you going to tell me? Because, it seems like everyone else knew, and have known for a while now. So that means this isn't just something new."

He starts to pace back and forth, running his hands over his face, "you were gone, and busy! We barely talked, I didn't want to bother you with little things going on here while you were away saving lives." It's an excuse at best, he knows it, and so does she.

"Yeah, you quit having time to talk, I had to rely on Murphy to fill me in." The last part was said in a sad whisper. It hurt him that he had caused all of this, she was his person, his best friend. 

"Listen Bellamy, I am glad you are happy, I would never wish it otherwise. I don't blame you, and I am not going to press charges against your girlfriend."

He was taken aback, he wasn't worried about her pressing charges against Echo, where did that come from? He realized he still hadn't said anything, and she was staring at him, waiting.

She let out another sigh, "Bell, I am really tired, it has been a really long past few days for me with traveling and now all of this, I think I am going to try and get some sleep while the pain medication is working. I'm fine, go home, go check on Echo." With that, she rolled over on her side, he saw the wince from pain, right before her back was to him. He didn't want to leave, but right now was obviously not the time for all of this.

"Okay, Clarke. I will be back later." She didn't say anything, and as he was walking out to the lobby, where everyone had been waiting, he had the feeling that things had changed between them.

As soon as he had gotten to the lobby, everyone wanted details. What had happened, how had it happened, and was he still with Echo? He tried his best to relay the story, but honestly, he was asleep for the first part, he only woke up when he heard Clarke let out a cry and then the thrashing between her and Echo.

Octavia had asked when he was dumping her, "I am not just dumping her O. She made a mistake."

"SHE put your best friend in the HOSPITAL, Bell! A mistake is putting the silverware in the wrong drawer." She was not going to let this go. Honestly, he had no idea what he was going to do about anything, his first concern had been to get to Clarke and make sure that she was okay. He had argued with Echo before he ran out of the house. She didn't understand why he was so okay with someone just walking into his room, in the middle of the night. She couldn't get that Clarke wasn't just someone, she was his best friend and roommate, and honestly every single one of his friends had barged into his room at some point. Hell, Jasper had seen way more than either of them wanted to one night when he had Bree over, a few years back. But, he still didn't want to just end it with her. 

"I don't know what is going to happen yet, I need time to think, and figure this all out." He glanced down at his watch, "And that is going to have to wait, I need to leave for work." He put his hand up before Octavia could say whatever she thought was best, "Not now O, I have to go."

He would just call out today, but he was teaching a new class, and he had a test for his students today. He would just have to put everything on the back burner for now. Bellamy pulled out his phone, he had 5 text messages from Echo, and 2 missed calls. He let out a groan, he didn't want to just leave her with this all right now, but he also didn't have time. He shot off a text, telling her that he would see her after work, and if he could he would try and call on his lunch break.

He hadn’t been able to check in on Clarke or talk to Echo when he finally took time to sit and eat his food. He pulled his phone out, seeing texts from Octavia, telling him that everything was fine. In fact, it sounded like Clarke would be released sometime later that evening. He let out a breath, he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. At least at home he could help out, and make sure she took it easy. He then checked over the texts from Echo, she wanted to know if he would be stopping by after work or if she should come by his place. He really just wanted to get home and check on Clarke, but that wasn’t fair to Echo, and Clarke had people there keeping an eye on her now. Plus, Octavia would be there sometime later in the evening. He had plenty of time. He let Echo know that he would stop by on his way home after work, and asked if she would like him to pick anything up.

Bellamy knew that not everyone was a huge Echo fan. At first, she was kind of abrasive and cold, but once you got to know her she really was great. Octavia still hadn’t really warmed up to her, and this would really set her back, but most everyone else was on board. Harper and Raven even invited Echo out when they did girl dates. He had been so nervous when he first brought her to meet his friends. If they hadn’t found out about her and basically threatened to find her and introduce themselves to her, Raven reminded him of her hacking skills, he probably would have held off even longer. But, it ended up going really well, and they started hanging out, he brought her to the weekly hangouts and the holidays that they had together.

The only thing that was missing was his best friend. He had told her about Clarke, but not much. It was hard to talk about her when she was so far away, and he missed her so much. Plus, the little bit that he did bring her up, or if his friends brought her up, Echo would close off a little. He figured she was probably just apprehensive of a female best friend to her boyfriend, especially one that she hadn’t met.

Bellamy finished up his lunch, sent Clarke a text letting her know that he would be home that evening and to let him know when she was being released, so he could pick her up. He knew things were weird right now between them, and that nothing had really been solved from last night, but she was still his best friend and roommate. Bellamy pocketed his phone, getting ready for his next class to come in. They would fix this, it was Clarke and Bellamy, they got through everything together.


	3. Chapter 3, Clark's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke leans on Murphy and Emori, more than she ever thought that she would. She gets a chance to unload a secret she has been keeping from everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I won't always be able to post this often, but right now I have the time and I am feeling very inspired. I hope you enjoy Clarke's POV, and getting some back story from her. Thank you again for the comments! I love hearing what you guys think, and how you interpret everything! As always, let me know what you think!  
Editing goes to my best friend again! She's the real MVP!

“Bell isn’t going to like this.” Octavia had a frown on her face as she said it. Clarke knew that Bellamy was not going to be a fan, but right now, this is what she needed, what they needed. 

“He will get over it, O. Right now, he doesn’t need to be worrying about me. He has a girlfriend now, he needs to focus on her. It just makes more sense.” Clarke was just finishing up signing the paperwork to discharge herself. She had talked Dr. Jackson into letting her leave early, considering she was a doctor herself, she knew the signs and what to watch for, there was no reason for her to sit here, taking up a hospital bed and their time.

“It’s Bellamy Blake, of course he is going to worry, even if you aren’t there. I swear he was born worrying. And, as far as Echo goes, screw her. In my opinion, he shouldn’t even be with her anymore.” Clarke didn’t really disagree, but that wasn’t her choice to make, and she wasn’t going to make it worse for Bellamy. She had been thinking about it all morning, trying to figure out what was best. Her friends had been in and out, visiting her, trying to catch up as much as they could. Murphy had offered her his spare room, if she needed, and she decided to take him up on his offer. 

Octavia had let her know that Bellamy was at work, and he had also texted her, letting her know he would by this evening to pick her up when she got discharged. So, she sent Murphy over to the house with her key, to grab a few of her things.

“I just kind of feel like this is a coward’s way out, by not talking to him and just leaving.” She was standing there, with her hands on her hips, glaring at Clarke.

“It’s not like I am moving across the country, Octavia. I am just staying with Murphy for a bit, right around the corner. I’m not even moving out yet.”

“Key word, YET. I’m sorry Clarke, I get why you’re doing this, I do. This is just not how things were supposed to go with you guys.” Octavia had turned her back to Clarke, and was looking out the window.

“I don’t like it either, O, but I am not going to make things worse for him and his happiness. Right now, he needs to figure out how to fix things with Echo. Plus, we can’t always be roommates, him being in a serious relationship just proves that.”

Octavia just let out a sigh, she didn’t give a response. There was a knock at the door, right before Lincoln walked in, “hey, I have the car pulled up and they said you are all good to go. Ready?” Clarke nodded, grabbing her phone as Lincoln grabbed her bag that Murphy had brought up. Octavia followed them out, she didn’t look upset, just disappointed, which was so much worse.

After Lincoln and Octavia dropped Clarke off at Murphy’s, they headed out. Murphy had gotten the things she asked for and had moved them into his spare room. Emori had gone and helped him. Emori and Clarke were hanging out in the living room, while Murphy cooked dinner. Who would have guessed, that Murphy was a master chef! He could pretty much cook anything, and he really enjoyed it too.

“Well, I’d ask how being home was, but from the past fifteen hours, I’m surprised you haven’t gotten on a plane and headed back.” Emori gave her a small smile, trying to ease some of Clarke’s tension. It worked, Clarke chuckled, even though it hurt pretty much her entire face.

“Believe me, I thought about it. But, it wasn’t exactly easy over there either.” Thinking about things that had happened over there, made her shiver. Emori could see it on her face, there was pain in her words.

“I know we aren’t close Clarke, but if you need to talk, I’m here.” She paused for a moment, Clarke could tell she was trying to decide what to say next. “What did happen over there?”

Clarke looked away, she hadn’t talked about it to anyone, not Bellamy, not even Murphy who was checking in on her. She could feel her palms start to sweat, thinking about what she had gone through.

“We were working in a village called Eden. The people there were so sweet, and happy. They taught us how to hunt and trap, they taught us what plants were safe, and what ones they used for their healing properties. It was beautiful, and so peaceful. We were able to help teach their healers, give supplies, and do a lot of work.” She could remember how wonderful it had been, all the good she was doing. “Eden was not the only village, there were many different villages and clans, some were not as friendly, and did not like us there. There was retaliation, from other clans, towards the people who lived in Eden, for allowing us to be there and showing us their way of living.” At some point, Murphy had come back in with dinner, he set it down on the coffee table, grabbing a blanket and putting it over Clarke, she was shivering. He took a seat next to Emori, not saying a word, just waiting for Clarke to go on.

“We had little kids coming in with acid burns, spears through the chest, and limbs cut off. They tortured them, because we were there.” She didn’t know when she had started crying, but she could feel tears silently running down her face.

“We treated everyone, the best we could, but it was so hard. Yet no one in Eden asked us to leave, they still wanted us there, they even went out of their way to protect us. We always had a bodyguard on us. But, the longer we were there, the worse the other villages got.” Clarke took in a big breath, shuddering when she let it out.

“One day, I was out with a scavenging party, looking for a plant they use as an anesthesia, when we were attacked. They killed anyone who fought back, and knocked the rest of us out.” She wiped at her face, before going on. “When I came to, I was in some sort of a cell, with a collar on. There was a man standing over me, he could speak perfect English and I realized that they had technology, just like us. I tried to ask him what he wanted and why I was there. When I felt a jolt of pain around my neck.” Her hands reached up, touching her neck, remembering the pain that radiated throughout her entire body. 

“It coursed through my body, once I stopped shaking I realized the collar I was wearing was a shock collar, and he had pushed the button on the remote. It got a lot worse, before it got better. They held us for about 3 weeks.” She could see from the look on Murphy’s face, that he knew when it happened. Bellamy had stopped emailing her, and Murphy was the one checking in on her. When she had gotten back to the village and was able to email him back, she told him that they had been out visiting other villages and didn’t have access to their emails.

She couldn’t read Murphy’s face as he spoke, “When Echo choked you out last night, that’s what you were thinking of. That collar around your neck, and being kidnapped.” It wasn’t a question, he knew why she ran, why she had to get out of the house, it was more than just being upset and being attacked. She was being thrown back into that cell and all of those memories were hitting her.

Emori reached out, grabbing her hand, “why didn’t you say anything? We could have been there for you.”

Clarke gave a small smile, and squeezed her hand, “It wouldn’t have changed anything. It would have just given you all something to worry about and I didn’t want that. You all had your own lives going on here. I chose to go there, I knew the risks. I don’t regret going either, it’s just going to take time to heal.”

Emori leaned over, pulling her into a hug.

“Well, you have us now Griffin, let’s eat!” Murphy could tell that she was done talking about it for now. He gave her a small nod when she looked up at him. 

It still surprised her, that of all people, Murphy would be the one that she is opening up to and considers one of her best friends, but here she is, on his couch eating food he cooked.

Clarke wiped her face dry, reaching for her plate of food, and checking her phone.

“Shit!” Emori and Murphy looked up at her, “I have 20 missed calls from Bellamy, 5 voicemails, and 7 text messages.”

Before anyone could say anything, Murphy’s phone rang. “Hey Blake, sorry, I am sitting down for dinner, can I call you back?”

Clarke could hear Bellamy yelling through the phone, “I KNOW SHE IS THERE, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! OCTAVIA SAID THAT SHE IS STAYING WITH YOU FOR NOW?”

Murphy the smart ass, “what’s the big deal? Clarke, Emori, and I wanted to have a girl’s night.”

Clarke smirked at the comment, even in a stressful situation Murphy could make her laugh. She reached for the phone.

“Bell, calm down. I am just staying here for a bit. Until everything calms down. You need time to smooth things over with your girlfriend, without worrying about me. And before you say anything about being able to do both, don’t. She is your girlfriend. Right now, you need to put her first, I am fine, I am just around the corner. But, we are going to eat dinner, and then I am going to go to bed. I will talk to you tomorrow.” Before he could say anything else, she hung up. She knew him, he wouldn’t let this be. He would try and talk her out of it, and this is what was best for now.

They finished up dinner, Clarke took her pain pills, and went to bed. She would start dealing with everything tomorrow. She needed to call the hospital and talk to them about when they wanted her back, she needed to pick up her car, and she needed to take the time and sit down with Bellamy. But, for now, she would sleep, and forget about everything that had happened recently. She would forget about the terrible feeling she got every time someone mentioned Bellamy having a girlfriend. She didn’t know why it bugged her so much, he was her best friend, she wanted him to be happy. That was another reason she needed some space, she needed to figure out why every time the thought of Bellamy with another woman, made her want to vomit. That was a problem for another day, she turned off the lamp, and closed her eyes, everything would be just fine. It had to be.


	4. Chapter 4 Bellamy’ POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy talks with Echo and has to face some reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me so far guys!

BELLAMY

Bellamy stared at his phone. Clarke had hung up on him, without even letting him get a word out. How was this spiraling out of control? He could barely wrap his head around the past 24 hours. He had at least had better luck with Echo, well not at first, but by the time he had left they seemed to be on better terms.

When he got there with dinner, she seemed pretty closed off. She was upset that he just left her at the house to run after another woman. Which of course didn’t set well with him. He tried to explain to her that Clarke wasn’t just some other woman, she was his best friend and had been for years. Not to mention, she was the reason that she had left like she had and was in the hospital.

“Well MAYBE, she shouldn’t just be walking into your room at all hours of the night!”

Bellamy had never heard Echo really get upset or yell before, she is usually very calm and collected, almost calculated with every move she makes and every word she utters.

“She is my roommate Echo! And again, best friend! She was just trying to surprise me. We have never had an issue with this before. She didn’t know that you were there.” Bellamy felt like they were getting nowhere, they had already said most of this when he was trying to follow Clarke out of the house.

“Look, I don’t feel bad for what I did. I feel bad that you are hurting, and that it was your best friend. But, I DON’T, and WON’T feel bad for being alert and protecting us.” She was looking him straight in the eyes, not backing down.

Bellamy was taken back by what she said, “What on earth do you feel the need to protect us from?” He saw, very briefly, a flicker of worry crosses her face. It reminded him, for how long they had been dating, there was still so much about Echo that he didn’t know.

“There is a lot from my past life, that I don’t wish to ever discuss, but that sticks with me. It’s part of who I am, I can’t change that Bellamy, not even for you.” She looked away, trying to regain some of her composure that was slipping away, this was the most vulnerable he had ever seen her.

Bellamy walked over to her, putting his hands on either side of her face, forcing her to face him, “I’m sorry, for whatever you went through that still haunts you. You may not want to talk about it, but know that I am here for you, if you ever decide to.” He gave her a small kiss on the lips, before pulling back and pulling her into a hug. “We still have to figure this all out though, I don’t want to lose you, but I need you to work with me when it comes to Clarke.”

Echo pulled back, looking at him, as if searching for something, what he didn’t know. “Okay, I will try, for you, I will try.”

Bellamy knew that it wasn’t all fixed, just like that, but it was sure a hell of a lot better than it had been. Now he just had to talk to Clarke. He still hadn’t gotten any calls or texts, so he figured she was still at the hospital. He found a parking spot near the front, and headed inside. When he got to her floor, he saw that the door to her room was open, as he got closer he saw that the bed was made, as if waiting to be used. He peeked in, no one was here.

“May I help you?”

Bellamy turned to see a nurse staring at him, with a confused look on her face, waiting for an explanation on what he needed.

“My friend, Clarke Griffin, she was here. Did she get moved to a different room?”

“Oh, Dr. Griffin, no she was discharged hours ago.” She waited a moment to see if there was anything else he needed, before turning and walking away. He had told her and Octavia to let him know as soon as she was getting discharged so he could be here to get her! He pulled out his phone, maybe O had decided to just take her home. He went to his favorites, hitting Clarke’s picture. It rang and rang, but no answer. He tried again, after the 10th call, he was now back in his car and fuming, he started to leave voicemails.

“Clarke! Where are you?! I am here at the hospital and they are telling me that you were already discharged but no one said anything to me.” He starts his truck as he calls Octavia. She answered on the second ring, “Hey Bell” she sounded a bit nervous.

“Finally, someone answers their phone! I have been trying to get ahold of Clarke but she’s not answering, and the nurse at the hospital said she was discharged hours ago. What’s going on?” He could hear his sister muttering on the other end of the phone.

“She’s not at home Bellamy. She just needs some time to process everything.” All he could hear was that she wasn’t at home.

“WHERE is she?”

“Bell, just give her some space, that’s what she needs right now. It’s Clarke, when she’s ready she’ll let you know.” She paused before adding, “I told you it wasn’t a good idea to keep things from her, you shut her out Bell.”

He heard what she said, but he didn’t have time to tell his sister that she was right, “Octavia Blake, where is she?”

There was a stretch of silence, he knew she was trying to decide if she should tell him or not, “She’s at Murphy and Emori’s. Before you just go-” He hung up on her before she could finish, put his truck in reverse, and was dialing Murphy. Murphy answered pretty quickly, but he wasn’t going to tell him anything. There was some murmuring in the background, then Clarke was on the phone.

She hadn’t even given him a chance to speak. Just told him how it was and hung up. There was a horn blaring behind him, he realized he was stopped at a greenlight. He started driving, unsure of what to do. Does he listen to her wishes, or just show up over there? Murphy wouldn’t let him in unless she said he could, and he really didn’t want to have to punch Murphy again. It’d been years since then, and they were good friends now, but he knew if he went over there right now, that’s how it would go.

Bellamy ended up driving around town, trying to get his thoughts in order, and calm down. By the time he pulled into his garage, it was pretty late. Clarke’s car was still parked there in her stall, so that was a good sign. She wasn’t completely leaving him, yet. He walked inside, turning on the kitchen light, looking around. So much of Clarke was here. They had picked out their dishes together, their dining room set, the couch, and he could see all the fine touches she had added. Clarke loved art, had she not gone to medical school she would have pursued her love for art. She had made this more than just a house, she made it a home, their home. He couldn’t imagine being here without her. Sure, she had been gone the past 9 months, but he knew she was coming back.

Everything hit him, the possibility of losing her. He pulled out his phone, calling his sister again. She picked up on the first ring.

“Bell? You okay?” He could hear the concern in her voice.

“She might really be gone. Why do I feel like she’s not coming back?”

Octavia let out a sigh, “Bell, you will always have Clarke in your life, you two don’t know how to function properly without the other. But what did you expect? You guys can’t be roommates forever.”

He knew it wasn’t rational, but he was beyond being rational at this point, “Why not? Why can’t we be roommates forever? It’s worked great so far! We get along so well, and she knows what I like and don’t like. And, I know her.” He was running his hands through his hair, trying to calm himself down.

“YOU, have a girlfriend Bellamy. What if you decide to propose to Echo? What if you decide to ask her to move in with you? How do you see that all playing out?” She let out a breath, “You guys aren’t just college kids anymore, Bell. You are adults, and adults move on, get their own families. Isn’t that the point of dating someone? To plan a future, eventually start your own chapters. Where do you see Clarke fitting into that? Is she supposed to just follow you guys around?”

There was a heavy silence between them, he hadn’t really thought about it before, and he didn’t know what to say.

“Bell, let me ask you this. What about when Clarke finds someone, someone she wants to move in with, possibly marry, or have kids with. What then? How does that work, or better yet, how does that make you feel?”

Her words hit him like a ton of bricks, he could feel his hands start to sweat, and he felt like he was going to be sick. He couldn’t even respond to her. 

“Think about what I said Bell, I’m here if you need to talk, love you.” She didn’t wait for him to say anything, he couldn’t anyways. She had hung up, and he was left alone, sitting in their living room with his thoughts. He didn’t know what to do, but he knew that none of this felt right.


	5. Chapter 5, Clarke's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eventually Clarke and Bellamy need to sit down and talk, might as well get it out of the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally get a sit down between Bellamy and Clarke. I have no clue how long this story will be, but we still have a ways to go. At least we are getting some Bellarke interaction.  
Hope you guys enjoy!

CLARKE

There was a loud sound blaring in Clarke’s ear, and it wouldn’t go away.

“CLARKE GRIFFIN! IF YOU DO NOT TURN OFF THAT ALARM RIGHT NOW, I AM NEVER COOKING FOR YOU AGAIN!” Murphy’s threat was followed with a thump against the wall the two rooms share.

Clarke chuckled, “note to self, Murphy is NOT a morning person.” She could hear grumbling through the wall as she turned off her alarm. She stretched her arms over her head, feeling it reach her toes, as she let out a yawn. Why on earth had she set her alarm for so early, it felt like she hadn’t slept for a month. Slowly but surely, she forced herself out of bed and into the bathroom. Half an hour later, she emerged feeling a little bit more like herself after taking a shower. Her headache was mostly gone now, just left with the pain in her face. she grabbed her pain pill for the morning, taking it before getting dressed. It was a leggings-and-oversized-hoodie kind of day. She went back into the bathroom to blow dry her hair, catching her reflection in the mirror. She let out a small gasp, she had definitely had better looking days, but what she noticed the most was the sweatshirt. She hadn’t paid attention when she put it on, she just grabbed one from her bag. It was one of Bellamy’s that she had stolen a while back. It was one of her favorites, he used to tease her that he would never have a sweatshirt to wear of his own, if she kept taking them. She felt her lips turn up a bit with the warm memory. She missed her best friend. After a good night sleep, she knew she needed to talk to him. Luckily it was Saturday, so he wouldn’t be at work, and Bellamy had always been a morning person.

Clarke had finished doing her hair, she didn’t even bother with makeup, her face was too painful and makeup wouldn’t cover anything anyways. She made her way down to the kitchen, made a pot of coffee, and was just sitting down to stir in her creamer and sugar when Murphy joined her.

She pointed to the hot pot of coffee on the counter, “morning sustenance.'' Murphey mumbled some sort of response as he headed to the cupboard to grab a mug. After getting his own mug and taking a few sips, he sat down across from her at the breakfast nook. Who would have thought that Murphy of all people, would have a breakfast nook?

“How did her highness sleep?” Once upon a time, Clarke would have been bothered by that. Bellamy used to call her Princess to get under her skin because of her privileged background. After they had become friends, the nickname had stuck but without the hostility.

“Hard. I wouldn’t be surprised if I snored, between the broken nose, sorry if I did.”

“Oh you did, but it’s fine. Once Emori got me some earplugs, I slept like a baby.” He gave her a smirk. “So, what’s the plan today?” His face switched from playful, to seriousness and slight concern.

“Actually, I was just about to give Bellamy a call. I think it’s time for him and I sit down and talk.” She watched his face, waiting to see his reaction.

He nodded his head, “I think that is a good idea, but only if you are ready. Do you want me there?”

“No, I appreciate you offering but, I will be fine.” He again nodded at her.

“Well, if you decide you change your mind, or you need anything, I am only a phone call away.” He stood up, all seriousness gone, replaced by a smirk, “so, how would the royal highness like her breakfast?”

Clarke smiled at him, “I’ll have to take a raincheck, I am hoping Bellamy and I can talk over breakfast. That way we have something to do, and it might help any awkwardness.”

“Alright, but just so you know, you are missing out! I was going to go all out for breakfast!” Emori walked in, heading to the coffee pot.

“Oh good, you said it, so I am holding you to it. I expect a big breakfast mister!” She winked at Clarke as she sat down.

“Yeah, yeah, a big breakfast. I’m not it.”

Clarke finished her coffee, getting to rinse her cup and put it in the dishwasher, before grabbing her phone and heading to the living room to call Bellamy.

She only hesitated on his picture for a second before pressing it. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. She wasn’t even sure if he would answer her call after the way things had gone the past few days. She felt guilty for the way she had handled things on her side.

Bellamy answered on the second ring, “Clarke? Is everything okay?” She could hear the concern in his voice, his voice was scratchy, like he had barely slept at all.

“I’m fine Bell, I was actually wondering if you could pick me up for breakfast? So, we could, talk?” She could hear her nerves in every word she let slip out. She had barely finished her sentence before he was answering.

“I’ll be there in 10 minutes.” He hung up before she could say anything else.

It we actually 6 minutes. He had jumped out of the car to meet her, walking alongside her like she was made of glass. Once they were both inside his truck, she turned to him, “So, where do you want to eat?”

“I know the perfect place.” He didn’t say anything else, and his face didn’t give anything away. It was only a few moments before they were pulling into their driveway. She turned to him, her face full of confusion. He didn’t give her a chance to say anything though, he pulled into his stall in the garage, shut off the engine, hopped out and met her on her side. He opened her door, helping her out. Once she got inside, she saw that he already had pancake batter mixed up, with chocolate chips mixed in, fresh fruit cut, and bacon out and in a pan, ready to put on the stove. It was her favorite breakfast.

“How did you get everything ready so fast?” Her eyes were still wide with shock that he had done all of this for her. Or maybe he didn’t, what if he had had plans with Echo, and she had interrupted them?

He looked sheepishly at her, he reached up rubbing the back of his neck, looking down at the floor. “I was actually planning on calling you this morning and hoping I could talk you into coming over for breakfast.” He finally looked up at her, meeting her eyes.

She reached out, resting a hand on his arm, “Thanks Bell. This was really sweet of you.” He gave her a smile, then led her over to the bar stool at the kitchen island.

“Just sit here, while I get everything going.”

It felt just like old times, him cooking for her, because she couldn’t cook and if it was up to her, she would just grab a granola bar and call it good. He was constantly chastising her for her lack of caring when it came to what she ate. He started cooking in silence, Clarke wanted to say something, anything really, but she didn’t know where to start.

He was flipping the first pancake over when he turned to her, “Clarke, are you okay?” His voice was full of worry and guilt.

“Bell, I am okay,” she gestured to her face, “this will all fade away and I will go back to looking the same. I just needed some space to think. To figure some things out.”

He was nodding along with what she said, “Did you? Figure things out I mean? Did you figure things out?” He put a plate in front of her, before turning back to the stove.

“I don’t know, some. I woke up feeling a bit better. But there is still a lot.” She eyed his back, she could see that his shoulders were tense, and if she was a betting woman, she’d bet he was holding his breath. “Bell, what I do know, is that you are my best friend, and always will be. Nothing will ever change that.” She could hear him let out a shaky breath at that. He turned to face her again.

“Clarke you have to know, no matter what, that you are my best friend too. That never changed.” His eyes were pleading with her to believe him.

“I know that, Bell. That wasn’t the issue.” She looked down at her hands, “You shut me out. When I left, you promised to stay in touch. I know I wasn’t the best at it either, but you just stopped trying by the end, and you left me out of your life.” She could see the pained expression cross his face. “I needed you Bell. You of all people know how hard that is for me to admit that. I know this isn’t fair to you, you didn’t owe me anything and you had plenty of your own things going on here.”

He had finished cooking, and turned off the stove. His back was to her again when he spoke, “I didn’t know how to tell you. Believe me, I typed out that message more times than I’d like to count. But it never seemed right. I can’t tell you why, it just never did.” He was running his hands through his hair now, looking everywhere around the room, but at her. “The longer I went not telling you, the harder it was. I felt like I was keeping this big thing from you and I didn’t even know how to talk to you. It just became easier to not talk to you, that way it didn’t feel like I was keeping things from you.”

Clarke got up from her seat and walked towards him, he watched her cautiously. “All I want for you is to be happy. If that’s Echo, then great. If she is what makes you happy, I will make it work Bell. I am sorry, for whatever I did to make you feel like you couldn’t talk to me about this.” She was standing in front of him now, she had forgotten how tall he was. She had to look up to meet his eyes. “I will make it work with her, for you. I can’t say I like her, but for you I will deal with it”

He reached out, pulling her into a hug, his face resting in the crook of her neck. “You are too good, Clarke Griffin.” She hugged him back, she had missed this, more than she even knew. She missed the way she felt so safe in his arms, the smell of his aftershave, and the way she felt like he would always be there for her.

She knew that there was more to talk about, but for now this would be enough. Baby steps. “So, let’s eat! This is my favorite breakfast after all! And I don’t remember the last time that I had Bellamy Blake's famous chocolate chip pancakes.” He chuckled at her as they pulled apart.

“Sounds good. Nice sweatshirt by the way.” His eyebrows were raised, as he gave her a smirk.

“Yeah, it’s one of my favorites, I told you that you weren’t going to get it back.”

They joked back and forth over breakfast, and it felt good, like old times. After breakfast, Clarke tried to help clean up, but Bellamy wouldn’t have it. He insisted that she sit and rest. As he was cleaning up, he cleared his throat.

“So, are you staying with Murphy, or do you think you would ever come back?” He couldn’t make eye contact with her.

“I want to come back, but we both need to make some ground rules. Rule # 1. ALWAYS knock before entering someone’s room.” She tried to smile at him to let him know that things would be okay.

“Deal, and I will make sure you know when Echo is coming over, but I think for a while, I’ll go there if I want to see her. Let things settle down and have you guys get to know each other first.

At his words, Clarke could feel a twisting in her gut, she couldn’t figure out why, so she pushed the feeling away, ignoring it. “Sounds good, but this is your home too, you should be able to bring your girlfriend here.” He just smiled at her. It was already feeling better between them.

They made their way to the living room, sitting on opposite ends of the couch, getting comfortable as Bellamy put on Netflix. “So, tell me about all the amazing work you did over their doc.” Luckily, he was looking at the tv and not her, so he missed the panic cross her face. She quickly concealed her feelings.

“Oh good, helped out a village of people and got their healers as much helpful equipment as we could.” She knew she should talk to him about everything. She wanted to, but they were just trying to get back to a normal place. She didn’t want to dump all of her troubles onto him.

He smiled at her, “Good for you, Princess! So, what do you want to watch? There is a new season of that Sci-Fi show we love, The 100?” They agreed on that, sat back and binged for a few hours, only pausing to grab some snacks.

They were on episode 8 when Bellamy’s phone started ringing, he put the show on pause, pulling out his phone. He glanced down, then over at Clarke, looking nervous, “It’s Echo, sorry, I have to take this.” He got up and walked into the dining room. She could still hear him from where she was sitting.

“Hey babe”

“Not too much, just hanging out.”

“Umm sure. Just give me a bit to get ready and I’ll be right over.”

“See you soon.”

She had a sinking feeling, she knew he had to split his time now, but this was the first time they had hung out in almost a year, and things were just starting to feel normal. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little bit annoyed with Echo, for stealing him away from their time together.

Bellamy walked back in, rubbing his neck, his signature nervous habit. “Hey sorry Clarke, ummm, Echo called and needs me.”

She plastered a smile, well as much of one as her face would allow, on. “No problem, I have to go get my stuff from Murphy’s anyways. Plus, him and I planned a scary movie marathon tonight. He thinks he knows better scary movies than I do. So, we are going to see which one is right.”

He scowled a little, “I didn't realize you and Murphy were so close.”

“He checked in on me a lot while I was gone, kept me as much in the loop as he could too.” The scowl stayed in place, but he nodded his head.

“Gotcha. Well do you need a ride over there or is he going to come and get you?”

“Actually, now that I am home, I can just take my own car over. Thanks though.” His scowl just deepened at that.

“Clarke you were just in the hospital with a concussion, you shouldn’t be driving.” He finished off the sentence with his arms crossed over his chest. She rolled her eyes at him.

“I’m a doctor, remember? I think I know if I can drive or not.” He continued to glare at her, but finally gave in.

“Fine, but if you need anything. Call.”

“You got it!” She gave him a mock salute. He just shook his head and headed up the stairs to get ready. She took that as her cue to head out. She grabbed her keys off the hook, hollered up the stairs letting Bellamy know she was leaving, and darted out the door.


	6. Chapter 6, Mixed POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Echo really need help? Or is it all a plan to push Clarke out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this chapter took so long to get up! We are in the process of selling our house and buying a new one, plus a toddler and twin newborns, it just got a bit hectic around here  
i hope you enjoy this chapter, we get to hear from Bellamy, Echo, and Clarke, plus some friend time! the next chapter we will start to see some more drama!  
Let me know what you think!

BELLAMY

Bellamy heard the door to the garage shut, and then the garage opening. He peaked out the window to see Clarke backing out. He felt bad leaving her during their day, he felt like they were actually making headway at getting to a good place, but Echo said she needed him. One thing was for sure, Echo was the most independent woman he had ever met, so for her to admit that she needed him was really big, and she was his girlfriend, Clarke would understand.

If he was being completely honest with himself, he really didn’t care for Clarke spending a ton of time with Murphey. She had said that they had gotten close in the past few months, and that was his fault, but he didn’t want to lose his best friend. He would just have to show her that he could be there for her and for Echo. He could be there for both of them, he could. Right? They would eventually see how happy the other one made him and get along.

Bellamy finished changing and headed out to get in his truck, this was just the beginning, things would be fine.

“Echo? I’m here. Where are you?” He had let himself in, he had a key after all, but the apartment was quiet and no sign of her. Then he heard some mumbled cursing coming from the direction of the kitchen. As he headed that way, he noticed an odd smell in the air, that’s odd. Echo doesn’t cook, so who is in the kitchen? As he rounded the corner, there in the kitchen, with a cloud of black smoke rolling out of the oven was his girlfriend.

He cleared his throat to let her know that he was here.

“Oh, great. You’re here already.” She let out a huff as finished pulling out a pan full of something that was now black.

“Did you cook? For me?” He couldn’t help but smile, in the past 6 months, either he cooked or they went out. She had made it very clear that she did not cook.

“Don’t make a big deal out of it, obviously there was a reason I hadn’t done it up to this point.” She gestures to the very black baking sheet. “I just thought that after everything, I should do something to show you that I care. As we both know, I am not the best at showing my feelings.” She took off the oven mitts and set them on the counter next to the baking sheet.

Bellamy couldn’t help it, so far he had tried to keep his face as normal as possible, but he let out a loud bark of laughter.

“It’s not funny! My apartment is going to smell like this for a month!” She glared at him from across the kitchen.

Still laughing, he walked over to her, peaking at the charred dinner. “So what was going to be on the menu?”

She let out another sigh, “I was trying to make you bacon wrapped asparagus and grilled steak. You had mentioned it was your favorite and I figured that it sounded pretty easy. Wrap the asparagus with bacon, put it in the oven, and done.” She glanced over at the mess, “But, apparently not so easy.”

“Seriously it’s fine! Plus it’s the thought that counts. It means a lot to me that you would be willing to do this for me.” He looked around, “plus this is only the bacon and asparagus, I bet the steak is still going to be great!”

Her eyes went wide, “The STEAK!!” Echo ran past him to her little patio off of her apartment, sliding open the glass door, revealing a grill with flames coming out the sides.

Halfway through his cheeseburger and fries, he looked up at her, still chuckling over the evenings events. She tried, that’s what mattered. Plus, who could say no to a Polis cheeseburger?

ECHO

Tonight was not going as planned. She knew this was his favorite meal, she also knew that Clarke was great at making it. He hadn’t told her much about her, but when he had mentioned this being his favorite, he had said that Clarke always grilled his steak just the way he likes it. Echo figured how hard could it really be. It turns out it was a lot harder than she had anticipated. Which only frustrated her.

The only part of the evening that was going right, was the fact that he was here with her and not with Clarke. She hadn’t planned on seeing him today, but she had been texting him earlier today, and he said he was spending time with Clarke at their place, it got under her skin. So she took action, that was one thing she excelled at, taking action. So, she called him and got him to come over. And, to be honest, by the way he kept smiling at her and squeezing her hand, maybe it was perfect that she had failed so badly. He thought it was cute. Never mind the fact that she absolutely hated that she failed, he seemed to like it, so she could put on a face and cover up how grumpy it was making her. 

He would be hers, and hers alone. She did not share, no matter who with, best friend or not. Echo looked up at him, plastering on a fake sweet smile, just what he wanted to see, before looking back down at her food, Clarke had no idea what she was in for. 

CLARKE

“I TOLD you I was right! Even Emori agrees with me!” Clarke was rubbing it in Murphy’s face that her movie was the better one, even if he wouldn’t admit it verbally, she could tell by the way he jumped multiple times, and there was that time he let out a squeal and tried to pass it off as Emori.

She was still laughing about Murphy squealing as they cleaned up the popcorn bags and some of the snacks while Emori picked out another movie.

“So, how did it go today?” Murphy pulled out a soda from the fridge, sliding it over to her, as he opened his beer.

“It went fine, we talked about everything that happened the other night, and agreed to set rules and boundaries for the house to avoid another situation like that. Then we binge watched some tv, and Echo called saying she needed him to come over. So here we are.” She shrugged, trying to make everything sound nonchalant, even though it still really bugged her that Bellamy had just ditched her on their first chance to hang out and talk in months, especially after everything that had happened, to go be with Echo. Couldn’t he have told her that he was busy or that he would be over in a bit, instead of just dropping everything and running to her first thing?

“Echo said she needed him?” Murphy raised his eyebrow at that, surprised as he brought his beer up for another sip. “Hmmm. Odd.”

“Wait, why? Why is that odd?” 

“Well, Echo has never ‘needed’ him before. In fact, I am pretty sure she makes a point to show everyone that she needs no one, she can handle anything on her own. It just seems odd.”

Clarke didn’t know her, so she didn’t want to read to much into what Murphy was saying, but the brief thought of her pulling some stunt, just to get him away from Clarke was beyond infuriating. She decided not to ride that train of thought, it would get her nowhere.

“I’m sure it was important, plus he’s her boyfriend, and he could have said no if he wanted to, so obviously he wanted to be there with her. It’s his choice.” She shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t want to think about Bellamy or Echo anymore, it would ruin her night, and they had all been having a good time. Just as Clarke was pulling out a bag of chips, the doorbell rang. She looked up at Murphy confused. She wasn’t expecting anyone else, were they? They hadn’t mentioned anyone. But, he looked just as confused as she did. They headed to the front room as Emori was opening the front door.

“It’s time to PARTY! We’re here bitches!” Octavia was holding up what looked to be a bottle of vodka. Behind her was Jasper and Maya, Clarke gave him little thumbs up, Monty, Harper, Miller, and was that Jackson? As in doctor Jackson who she works with how and why was he here?

“Jackson?” He gave her a smile, and glanced at Miller.

“Hey Dr. Griff- I mean Clarke. Looks like you are feeling better! I am glad to see it.”

“So you do late night random house calls now?” She let out a chuckle, still confused as to why he was here with their friend group.

“He’s with me.” Miller put his arm around Jackson’s shoulder, hugging him, and smiling!

“What?! Really?! I am so happy! I wanted to set you guys up ages ago but you were with-” Clarke dropped the sentence. She was about to say Bryan, but realized how awkward that would be, and now was. Where was Bryan and what happened to that?

Miller didn’t seem to mind, “Bryan and I just had way too different of views. So when I was visiting you at the hospital I got the courage to start talking to this guy,” he looked at him smiling again, Jackson smiled right back. “Now here we are hanging out seeing where this goes.”

“That’s great guys, I am really happy for you both.” They smiled, nodding their thanks before heading to the couch, then Octavia was tackling her.

“Octavia! She was just in the hospital, maybe take it down a notch or two!” Raven hollered at her as she walked in with a slight limp with Lincoln carrying a cooler behind her.

“Oops, sorry Clarke! I forgot.” She looked sorry for all of 3 seconds before jumping to Lincoln.

“Yay! The cooler has arrived!” Lincoln let out a deep chuckle. It was rare to see her friend talk much or even smile, but if anyone could get him to do it, it was Octavia. He was so madly in love with her.

“So glad it’s the cooler you are excited to see.” He was still smiling at her.

“Oh hush you, you know I am excited to see you too!”

Just like that, it was like old times, they were laughing and hanging out. Emori had decided to give everyone a call to surprise Clarke and help her feel like she belonged again. Clarke didn’t know that she needed this, not until now, and she was so grateful. Raven’s new boyfriend Shaw showed up a little bit later, and Clarke really liked him, and he was perfect for Raven. The only thing that was missing was Bellamy. Bellamy was usually with her teasing and making fun of their drunk friends through the night. It was weird being with everyone, but him. But, this was probably going to be how a lot of nights went, so she might as well get used to it, even if it did leave a little bit of a sinking feeling in her gut. Now she really wished she could drink alcohol, which reminded her, it was time to take another pain pill. As she headed into the kitchen to get some water and her pill, she was reminded why she had to take a pain pill, and her broken face. Bellamy wasn’t here with her, because he was with the person that did this to her. She swallowed her pill, setting the glass down. She wouldn’t be down about him not being here, he made his choice, it was his life and she wasn’t about to let any of this ruin her evening. She had her friends here, and it was the first time in a long time that she got to just relax and have fun. So that was exactly what she was going to do.

Clarke headed back to the front room, where a game of who could guess what was in Monty’s moonshine was happening. That was one game she was thankful she wasn’t part of.

“Hey Clarke, where’s Bellamy?” Jasper looked up as he took another sip of the moonshine, scrunching his face up.

"Echo called and said she needed him.” She really didn’t want to talk about them.

“What? He blew you off for Echo? He told me he was spending all day with you?” Octavia looked pissed.

“It’s fine guys, really. Plus I am here with all of you guys! I miss you all so much!” She could tell Octavia was about to lose it, and that was the last thing that they needed. A drunk Octavia, calling and going off on her brother for choosing his girlfriend over his friend. But Lincoln leaned over and whispered something in her ear. It didn’t completely wipe away the angry look on her face, but it calmed her down enough that it was left at that. Luckily, that was the last that Bellamy or Echo was brought up, and the rest of the night she was able to just relax and enjoy being surrounded by her friends. This is exactly what she needed.


	7. Chapter 7, Bellamy's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that this took so long! between selling our house, buying a new one, moving, and dealing with new twins and a toddler, life has been a little crazy!  
But finally I have a chapter for you, and I plan to start making time to write each day!  
It's a pretty slow burn, BUT here soon we will start getting some pretty good drama! Very soon!

CHAPTER 7. BELLAMY

Bellamy had heard that their group of friends had gotten together the other night while he was at Echo’s. He wasn’t mad that they hung out without him, but it did kind of sting that they didn’t even let him know about it until after, especially because it would have been the first time they all could have hung out together since Clarke had been home. Like old times. He shrugged it off, he wouldn’t have been able to make it anyways, he was at Echo’s that night. Plus, he thought as he was heading down stairs to make a pot of coffee, it’s not like they wouldn’t have plenty of other times to hang out. Someone was always throwing some sort of get together or party.  
As he rounded the corner to enter the kitchen, the smell of coffee hit him. There was Clarke still in a pair of scrubs from her first night shift back at work, he hair thrown into a messy bun. He smiled at the sight of her, it was such a familiar sight, their house hadn’t been the same without her for all of those months.  
“Rough night?” He asked as he reached for the cup that she had already poured for him, falling right back into habit. When she worked nights, she was getting home as he was leaving, so she would make him coffee in the mornings. It had been rough the first few weeks after she left, coming down stairs to a quiet kitchen and lacking the scent of a freshly brewed pot of coffee.  
“Yeah, there was a city bus crash last night, spent the whole night in different OR’s. But, on the bright side, everyone should pull through.” She reached for a granola bar from the cupboard.  
“Wow, well that’s one way to get you back into the swing of things. I’m glad everyone is doing okay.” He saw the bags under her eyes, knowing she was tired after the long night she had had. “You have eaten more than just that granola bar right?” He cocked his eyebrow at her, waiting for whatever excuse he knew would come. When Clarke was busy, she always pushed her own needs on the back burner.  
“It was a long night Bell, don’t start with me.” She let out a sigh, “plus I had pizza last night.”  
He made a scoffing noise, “Yeah because pizza has so much nutritional value and will help you power through a long night. I am sure it gave you all the energy you needed.” He was already putting four pieces of toast into the toaster. Two for him and two for her. Then, before she could say anything, he ushered her to the bar stool.  
“I don’t need you to feed me, I am an adult you know.” She folded her arms, and giving him a slight glare.  
“And I don’t need you to make me coffee in the mornings, yet you do that for me. Just sit there and eat what I put in front of you. Can you do that?”  
She let out her breath, he could tell she didn’t have the energy to fight him on it, plus he knew she was hungry.  
“Fine, but only because I know it will make you happy.” She tried to hide her smile from him.   
Bellamy was a caretaker, he always had been. It’s why the group jokes around and calls him dad. He can’t help it, he just has this drive to take care of others. For a while he had considered becoming a police officer like Miller did, and work his way up to becoming a detective. But, he ended up following his love for history instead. There were still days where he still thought about doing it though. He would argue with himself, telling himself he is still young, he has plenty of time to do whatever he wants.  
He had scrambled up some eggs for the both of them, sprinkling some cheese on them, just the way Clarke likes it, and buttering the toast. Not an extravagant breakfast, but better than just a granola bar and it had protein in it. He set the plate in front of her, “The princess’s meal.” He bowed before letting out a chuckle and taking a seat for himself.  
“Ha Ha. You are so funny.” But she dug into her eggs anyways. He could hear the soft moan that she let out at the first bite. He loved seeing her happy, and knowing he was the one that was the cause of it. But, he also would be lying if he said he didn’t love hearing the soft moans she kept letting out. What on earth was wrong with him. Had she been away so long that he wasn’t used to her quirks, like the pleasure sounds she makes when she eats something she deems delicious. And since when, did he love hearing her make the noises? He was so in his head, he didn’t even notice that she was speaking to him.  
“Hello? Anyone home? Earth to Bellamy.” She was waving her hand across his face, with a concerned look on her face.  
“What? Sorry, I have a big lecture I am giving today, and got lost in thought. What were you saying?” She looked like she was still on the fence of believing him, but decided not to press.  
“I was saying that you make the best eggs. I had dreams about your cooking while I was away, no one can cook like you. I tried to cook once for a group of us doctors, lets just say I was never put on chef duty after that.”  
He let out a chuckle, he was all to familiar with Clarke’s cooking skills, or for better words, lack of.  
“What, no one had the taste for charred brick?” She gasped, and smacked his arm.  
“I will have you know that some people would do just about anything to have a taste of my famous charred brick casserole.” She was smiling back at him now.  
“Yeah, I am going to have to call BS on that one. No one, and I mean no one would want that.”  
They were still chuckling as they picked up their dishes and headed to the sink.  
“What do you have going on Thursday night after work? I have it off and was thinking we could do something, just you and me, like old times?” She gave him a nervous smile, like she thought he might tell her no.  
“It looks like I have plans, you just have to tell what those plans are.” He winked at her as he put the last dish in the dishwasher.  
“Great! How about you meet me at the SkyBox when you get off work?”  
“Sounds perfect! I’ll be there.” He gave her a side hug as he grabbed his mug of coffee and keys, to head out the door.  
“Good luck on your big lecture today!” She waved bye to him before heading up the stairs to get ready for bed.  
As he was backing out of the driveway, he smiled to himself, things would get there. They would get back to normal, this morning was already starting to feel like old times.  
He was just parking in his spot at the university, when his phone went off. It was Echo, he could tell by the text tone he had set for her, which surprised him. What surprised him was Echo was not really one for texting, and she never texted him before work. He opened up the message as he headed into the building.   
ECHO: Just wanted to say that I miss you and hope that you have a good day!  
He stopped. He actually stopped walking. What on earth, in the entire time that they had been dating, not once had she texted him a have a good day text, or used an exclamation mark.  
He realized he was just standing in the middle of the hallway outside of his office, and started walking again as he typed out a quick reply.  
BELLAMY: Miss you too, hope you have a good day too  
Echo wasn’t usually a very affectionate person, in person or over the phone. But, maybe she was finally starting to let him in more and this was a new side of her he just hadn’t gotten to see yet. He checked his watch, students would be showing up within the next 20-30 minutes, so he needed to get everything ready, and push everything else to the back for now.


	8. Chapter 8. CLARKE’s POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to stir things up and add new face!   
this chapter is a bit longer and if there are any mistakes I apologize, I just wanted to get it up fast!

CHAPTER 8. CLARKE

Clarke hadn’t planned on working thursday, it was finally her day off, but there was a mess in the ER, so she ended up working during the day shift. As long as she got out of there in time to shower and meet Bellamy at the SkyBox, she didn’t mind.  
It was close, but she made it. She had texted Bellamy letting him know there was a possibility she would be running a few minutes behind, but that she would definitely be there. He hadn’t responded, but she figured he had been busy and then was driving. She had gotten to the SkyBox with 3 minutes to spare, but now it was going on an hour past their planned meeting time. She had texted him a few times and tried calling, at first it would ring a few times and then go to voicemail, but now it was going straight to his voicemail.   
She was a little worried, but Bellamy has been known to go over on his lectures with answering questions. Maybe his phone died. She decided to wait for a while and have a few drinks at the bar.  
“Well hello stranger, haven’t seen you around here in awhile!”  
Clarke looked up to see her favorite bartender, who also happened to be the owner, Roan King.  
“I see the help hasn’t gotten any better in my absence.” She smirks at him.  
Roan grabs his chest gasping, like her words physically wound him, “that pains me, I thought you and I were friends Clarke!” She chuckles at him as he busies himself making her favorite drink, Sex on the Beach. She quirks an eyebrow at him as he slides it over to her, she hadn’t even said what she wanted to drink.  
“Don’t tell me your taste buds changed while you were away? This isn’t your favorite drink anymore?”  
“No, no, I am just surprised that you remember what my favorite drink is.” She takes a sip, he makes the best damn drinks.  
He sends her a smile before sliding down the bar to help another customer. She sees him whisper to another bartender as he throws a towel over his shoulder, the employee nods to him before turning to help the remaining customers. Then Roan is coming from behind the counter to sit next to her.  
“So, tell me, where have you been? I haven’t seen you in months. My bar just not good enough for you anymore?” He reaches over the bar, grabbing a bottle of whiskey, pouring himself a tumbler, and taking a sip.  
“You know this is my favorite bar. I was out of the country, working with other doctors in a few villages.” He raises his eyebrows at her, the look passing over his face telling her he is impressed.  
“Well, I guess that explains why I haven’t seen you, I wasn’t sure if something had happened and didn’t think I should ask your ragtag group of friends.”  
She laughs, almost spitting the drink she had just taken. Raven would definitely have have words to say if she knew she was being called a ‘ragtag’ friend. Speaking of friends, it reminded her why she was here in the first place. She glanced down at her phone, she had been here for almost 2 hours and not even a text or call from Bellamy. She was starting to get a little worried. It wasn’t like him to not even respond to her, and he always has a phone charger on him. In his office at work and in his truck.  
Roan must’ve seen the worry on her face, “is everything okay?”  
“I was actually supposed to meet Bellamy here after he got off of work, but I have been here for 2 hours and I still haven’t heard anything from him. I think I am going to try and call him again.” She hit his contact, it didn’t even ring once, straight to voicemail. “Hey Bell, I am starting to get worried. It’s been 2 hours, if I don’t hear from you in the next hour I am calling your sister.” Clarke hung up, still worrying. If something was really wrong, someone would know, and she’s sure they would have let her know by now. She let out a sigh, then she noticed Roan signaling the other bartender. The next thing she knew a fresh Sex on the Beach was being slid in place of the one she hadn’t even realized she had finished.  
Clarke glanced over at her friend, “thank you.” He gave her a small smile before taking another sip of his whiskey.  
Clarke forgot how much she enjoyed spending time with Roan, the man could definitely make her laugh. After her fourth drink, and no food, Roan cut her off, ordering a burger for her from the kitchen to help soak up some of the alcohol in her. It was well past the time he was supposed to meet her, the night crowd was in full swing. Clarke had tried to call O, but she wasn’t answering either.   
It had been a while since Clarke had really drank, and it showed. She was a mess. “He ditched me. He promised he would be here, but he ditched me. First his girlfriend beats me up, and then he ditches me. I thought I was his best friend.” She let out a sob at the end.  
“Echo beat you up?!” Roan is looking at her full of concern.  
“She thought I was breaking into my own house. Broke my face and everything, thank goodness for makeup; does wonders.” She gestures to her face sloppily.  
“Alright you, I think it’s time we get you home.” He grabbed her purse, sticking her phone in it, then wrapping her jacket around her, “come on you, let's get going.” Roan had his arm wrapped around her waist, supporting her and ushering her out the door. After he got her into his truck, he pulled out his phone, shooting off a quick text.  
“Maybe I’m just not friend material anymore, maybe I spent too much time away and he just doesn’t need me anymore and this is his way of telling me.”  
Roan pulled up to a red light, turning to look at her, “no, I am sure there is a very good explanation for him not showing up,” muttering under his breath, “there better be.” He cleared his throat, “you are a great friend, AND a great person. Look at what you just did, you just left your home and everything that you know to go and help those that need it. That is not the signs of someone that is not friend material.”  
Clarke let out a sigh, leaning her head up against the window watching the street lights pass by. She heard Roans phone buzz, seeing him out of the corner of her eye glancing down at it.  
“You had plans tonight and instead you ended up stuck with babysitting me. I am so sorry! You can drop me off here and I can get an uber home.”  
“ABSOLUTELY NOT! I had nowhere to be tonight, so you just sit there and enjoy the ride.”  
She sat silent for a while, her head was pretty fuzzy from all the drinks she had at the bar, “the whole time I was kidnapped and locked up in that…” she fades off for a moment, “I thought of my friends, of my home. I couldn’t wait to get home, it’s what kept me going. Now I am home, and I feel even further away. Nothing is the same.”  
He was looking at the road, gripping the steering wheel as hard as he could.   
The next thing Clarke knew, they were pulling into Murphy’s driveway, he was already outside waiting. “Why are we here?”  
“Wait just a second, I’ll be right back.” Roan jumped out of the pickup, and she could see him talking to Murphy.

ROAN

Roan Couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Put aside the fact that he had had a crush on Clarke since she first walked into his bar, how could anyone ditch her? And what the hell was this about her being kidnapped?! He had texted Murphy as soon as he got into the pickup, letting him know that he had Clarke and she was drunk. Murphy had texted back pretty quick, telling him to bring her there.  
When he pulled into his driveway, he hopped out, needing to have a word with him first. He was barely able to keep his mouth shut in the truck, it took every ounce of patience he had, honestly he is surprised his steering wheel didn’t break.  
“What the hell happened? I thought she was supposed to be with Bellamy tonight? She said they had plans. What’s going on?” Roan could see the worry on Murphy’s face. He could tell that he cared about Clarke, the only reason he called Murphey and not Raven, was because he saw on her phone when she was trying to reach Bellamy, that Murphy was the next contact on her favorite list.   
“He never showed up, and as she waited for him, she drank. I got her to eat some food at the end, but she is pretty drunk.” He ran a hand over his face, “John, I don’t know what happened to her, but she is not okay. She was drunk rambling and on the verge of tears, I wasn’t even sure what all she was saying. But, she said something about being kidnapped, and locked up, and how getting home to all of you is what got her through it. She waited hours at the bar, he never texted her or called her back.”  
He could see that Murphy was pissed. “He didn’t show?!”  
Roan just shook his head. He glanced back at the truck and could see that Clarke had fallen asleep against the window. “She’s really upset.” Roan shook his head again.  
Murphy had pulled out his phone, already calling someone. On the third try, they answered.  
“Murphy someone better be dead. I had to walk out of one of my kickboxing classes.” He could hear Octavia was out of breath a bit  
“Where is Bellamy? Have you talked to him?”  
Roan was thankful that he had it on speaker phone, he wanted to know what was going on.  
“Bell? No, I haven’t talked to him today. Why, what’s wrong?” Roan and Murphy glanced at each other, not even sure the best way to answer that.  
“He was supposed to meet Clarke after work and never showed up. He’s not responding to calls either, Roan is here now, he had to bring her home. She is passed out drunk.” They could both hear her swearing.  
“I will find him.” The call ended.  
“Do I take her back to her house? Her car is at my bar, we can get it for her tomorrow, but what do we do tonight?”  
“No, let’s bring her inside, she can sleep in our spare room.”  
Roan went to the passenger door of his truck, opening it slowly, careful to not let her fall out. He reached over, unbuckling her, before wrapping his arms around her and lifting her out. Murphy grabbed her purse and jacket, walking ahead of them. When they got inside, Roan laid her down on the bed, Murphy had pulled back the covers.  
“Let me know when you hear something, I’ll be in touch tomorrow about her car.”   
When he got back into his pickup, all he could see was her face as she sobbed, voice breaking whispering he was supposed to be her best friend.  
He decided to head over to Echo’s and see if he was there. He had known Echo for a while, he wouldn’t call her a friend, but they grew up around each other.

When he pulled up outside of Echo’s apartment, he saw her car parked there. That’s when he noticed Octavia storming out of the building, Bellamy hot on her heals phone up to his ear.  
“O, please! She’s not answering! Where is she? Is she okay?”  
Octavia whipped around on him, “YOU DON’T GET TO ASK THAT! YOU DON’T GET TO PRETEND THAT YOU CARE! YOU OBVIOUSLY HAD BETTER THINGS TO DO!” She was screaming in his face, and jabbing him in the chest with her finger.  
Roan watched her take a step back, letting out a breath, “She waited Bell, for hours, and then she was worried. What was so important that you couldn’t even let her know you couldn’t make it.”  
Bellamy was running his hands through his hair over and over again, “It was a long day at work, I, I forgot. Echo picked me up and we went to get something to eat and a movie. She turned our phones on silent for the movie and held onto them!”  
“Did Echo know that you had plans with Clarke tonight?”  
Bellamy stood there, surprised, “um I don’t know, I might have told her.”  
“That’s BULLSHIT, and you know it! We all knew you had plans tonight, you know you told Echo!”  
“She must have just forgot too!”  
“Quit! Quit making excuses for her! I’m sure she suggested the movie, and to hold onto the phones. I bet she even knew that Clarke was calling you!”  
“That is enough, O. Echo wouldn’t do that!”  
“Oh really? She already beat the shit out of Clarke, and I don’t care what she says, she has seen plenty of pictures of Clarke, she knew she wasn’t someone breaking in. She set this up, and here you are, defending her.”  
“O. I said ENOUGH. Echo wouldn’t do that. I am so sorry that this happened, but it was just a big mistake.”  
Roan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This wasn’t the Bellamy that he remembered. The Bellamy that wouldn’t even let someone look at his best friend the wrong way, let alone beat them up and then stay dating the one who did it!  
“Big brother, you will see the truth one of these days, I just hope that it’s not too late.”  
“Too late for what?”  
Octavia just shook her head, turning to walk away. She stopped, turning slightly to look at him one last time, “I am done with her Bell. If you bring her around I won’t be there. Don’t bring her to family dinner either. I know you don’t believe she is capable to manipulate all of this, but she is, and that’s exactly what she’s doing. She is manipulating you. You may not be done with her, but I am.” And with that, she turned and walked off, getting into her car and leaving. Roan watched as Bellamy just stood there, staring at the back of his sister’s car, like he still didn’t understand what had just happened. That’s when Roan noticed Echo coming out of the building.  
“Is everything okay? You didn’t come back, I was worried.” She came up behind him, hugging him.   
The Echo Roan had grown up with, was not an affectionate one. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  
Bellamy stepped out of her arms, “Echo did you know that I had plans with Clarke when you picked me up for the movies?”  
Even from sitting inside his truck with his window down, he could see the look of shock cross her face, but Roan could tell it wasn’t from forgetting they had plans, it was from being caught.  
“Oh my!” She slapped her hand over her mouth in shock. “I am so sorry! I completely forgot! You texted that you were having a rough day, and I just wanted to take your stress away! I am so sorry!”  
Bellamy let out a sigh, looking down at the ground, so he missed the look that roan saw. Echo smirked. She actually smirked, pleased with herself. She had gotten what she wanted.  
“I’m sorry, it was really sweet. Thank you for thinking of me. I just feel so bad. Apparently Clarke called me and so did Murphy, but I didn’t get any of the missed calls or texts.” He was rubbing his face now.  
“We get terrible service in the theater, it’s such an old building. I am sure that’s why honey.”  
Roan could throw up, this was not the Echo he knew. In fact, she made fun of women like this. It was all an act. But, Bellamy was buying it, he was buying every word.   
Roan watched as Bellamy wrapped his arms around Echo’s shoulders and started walking back into the apartment building, he could see him putting his phone to his ear again. Probably trying Clarke again. He just shook his head. He had always thought they would end up together. In fact, when he first met them he was disappointed. He was convinced they were a couple, and when he found out that they weren’t, he thought it was just a matter of time. So he didn’t try. Well, now, now he was going to try. Roan started his truck, sending off a text to Murphy to let him know when Clarke woke up, and headed home.


	9. Chapter 9, Mixed POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy has too much time to think about how badly he messed up.  
While Clarke has made a decision on how to move forward, no matter how hard it may turn out to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry it took me so long to update! Life has been crazy with 9 month old twins and a very busy toddler, and my husband was in a pretty bad car accident. Everything is okay now though. And, I have an update for you!

CHAPTER 9. BELLAMY

He messed up. He messed up big time. Bellamy barely got any sleep, he couldn't, all he could think about was Clarke, waiting for him at the bar. He would never ditch Clarke, but he had. Was his sister right? Had Echo manipulated the situation and set it all up? No, he shook his head, she wasn't that type of person, a little intense maybe, but not some mastermind schemer. 

He ran his hand over his face as he lay back in bed. His phone in his other hand, held up above him, Clarke's contact open. He'd called her 20 times already since waking up, still no answer, and she wasn't home. After everything happened last night, he decided to go home. Echo had wanted him to stay the night, but he just couldn't. He wanted to get home and see Clarke, to apologize, but when he got there, he saw that her car wasn't there, and neither was she. He was frantic at first, but after trying to think of where she could be, and her not answering any of his phone calls, or texts, he figured she was probably at Murphy's. He was tempted to go bang on his door, but he knew that there was no way Murphy would let him in, let alone even open the door for him. He had to do something big, he needed to show her just how sorry he really was.

He let out another sigh, as her phone went to voicemail again. Deciding that laying in bed calling her nonstop was getting him nowhere he decided to take action. He got up, showered, made a cup of coffee, and decided to head to Murphy's. He knew that if he called him and told him he was heading over, that he would just be giving Murphy time to come up with an excuse, or time to get Clarke out of there. Their friendship was weird, Bellamy remembered at time that they two had hated each other. He would be lying if he said he wasn't just a tad bit jealous of their friendship. Him and Clarke used to be like that, but nothing was the same, not since she left months ago. He just wanted that back, he missed his best friend. As he backed out of his garage, he knew he had to get his best friend back, back to where they used to be. He just wasn't sure how.

CLARKE

Clarke didn't remember the last time she drank this much. Her head was killing her, and she was pretty sure if she moved a muscle, she was going to lose whatever contents were left in her stomach. But, she had to get up at some point. She cracked an eye, thankful that the black out curtains were blocking out the morning sun. She didn't know what time it was, but she was sure it had to be late morning. She could hear someone in the kitchen moving around pots and pans. She slowly went to roll over, when she really took in her surroundings. This wasn't her room. This was Murphy's guest room. Why was she here? She closed her eyes again, trying to remember the events of last night.

Bellamy. He never showed up for their dinner date. Was he okay? Why hadn't he shown up? It wasn't like Bell to ditch her. She continued piecing together the night's events. She was at the bar, Roan was there. They had drinks, she waited and waited for Bellamy to show up but he never did. Then Roan took her home, no he took her to Murphy's. After that she doesn't remember anything, except waking up here. She must have passed out, stupid alcohol, and her low tolerance. She looked around, searching for her phone, finding it on the nightstand next to the bed. She had to close her eyes at the brightness of it, she might still be a little drunk honestly.

There were so many notifications, she squinted her eyes, trying to get them to focus better. She had a few missed calls, and texts from Octavia, a text from Murphy, telling her to come down whenever she woke up and he'd have food for her. A few texts from Roan, asking how she was and if she could please call him when she was awake, he was worried about her. She smiled at that, it was really nice getting to see him again. Then her eyes widened, 43 missed calls, 21 text messages, and 7 voicemails, all form Bellamy.

Just before she could hit the dial button, Murphy opened the door. 

"Oh good!" He smiled at her as she winced in pain from how loud he was being. "I made you food, it's my hangover specialty. Come on down." He walked over to her, grabbing her phone and putting it in his pocket before grabbing her hand and practically dragging her out of the room and towards the kitchen.

"Murphy, you know I am capable of making it to the kitchen on my own, without being led like a toddler," she grumbled. "Also, may I have my phone back?" I have to get a hold of Bellamy, he has been calling all night and morning."

If she hadn't been so close to him, from him leading her to the kitchen, then she would have missed his mumbling, "Oh, I bet he has been calling, as that ass hat should be."

They made it to the kitchen, and she was gently pushed down into a chair, with a giant plateful of food in front of her. To be honest, the thought of food had made her stomach turn, until she saw and smelled the creation sitting there. "What on earth is this? It's huge!"

It looked like a burger, a sandwich, and an omelette all squished into one dish. It looked amazing.

"Just try it, I promise, it will help." He sat down across from her, sipping his coffee as she started to eat.

"Murphy this is amazing! Now that I know you can make something this amazing, you will never get rid of me." She knew she was throwing her manners out the window, as she talked around a mouthful of food.  
Murphy just shook his head at her terrible manners, going about the kitchen cleaning up. She was about halfway through her food when a cup of coffee was set in front of her.

“Thanks, I think I may need that today.” She smiled up at him as he sat down across from her.  
“Clarke, do you want to tell me what happened last night? I haven’t seen you drink like that in a really long time.”

She let out a sigh, she may not remember everything about last night, but she remembered why she started drinking in the first place.  
“I was supposed to meet Bellamy for dinner. Time for us to catch up and try to get past all of this awkwardness that is becoming the new normal.” She let out another sigh, before continuing. “But, he never showed up. At first, I was pissed, then I was worried that maybe something had happened. But now looking back, if something had happened, O, or someone else, would have gotten ahold of me. Plus, before you took my phone away,” she settled him with a glare, “I saw that he had tried calling and texting, so he’s obviously alive.”

She could see that he was trying to reign in his anger.

“I just don’t get why though? We set up plans days ago. If he couldn’t make it, he could have just told me.”

“He was with Echo. That’s why he couldn’t be bothered to show up.” She could feel the venom in his words, as they sunk in.  
He was with Echo? He was fine? He had ditched her, for Echo. She understood that they were dating, and that he cared for her. But, he never expected him to just ditch her like that. They had been best friends for years! How could he do this? To say she was angry would be an understatement.

“Clarke?” Murphey reached out to her, seeing the different emotions cross her face, landing with one of pure disgust.

“How could he do this Murphy? Has he really changed that much since I have been away? Do I really mean nothing to him now?”  
“As much as I want to throttle him right now, I know that you are still his best friend. He is just trying to figure out this new part of his life. The part where he has his best friend and his serious relationship, and how they will fit together.”

She sat there silent for a moment, before standing up and pushing her chair in rather roughly.

“Well, I will just make it easy on him then. So he doesn’t have to worry about how we all fit together anymore!” Clarke stormed out of the kitchen, towards the guest room.

“Clarke! Clarke, what are you doing?” Murphy rushed after her.

“I am getting my things.” As she entered the room, she saw her purse, reaching in grabbing her keys, she realized that she could not have driven here, so where was her car?  
“Murphey, where is my car? And I would like my phone back. Now, please.”

He let out a frustrated sigh, reaching in his pocket, handing her phone back to her. “Your car is still at Roan’s bar. He said to give him a call this morning and he’d help you get it. Or I could take you over there if you’d like?”

Before she could respond to his offer, there was a knock at the front door. Murphy let out a curse, before stomping off towards the door.

Not wanting to wait around, she texted Roan, asking him if he could come and pick her up. Not waiting for a response, she grabbed her purse and shoes, and headed out of the room.

“I know she’s here Murphy! Let me in!”  
She would know that voice anywhere.

“Bellamy, I don’t think now is a good time.” Murphy was blocking the door, but she could see the top of Bell’s curly head over his.

“It’s fine Murphy,” she finished putting on her shoes coming up to him, “you can let him in, I’m leaving anyways.” She shouldered past both men, that were standing there in shock at her just showing up.

She had made it down the path, to the driveway by the time Bellamy snapped out of it and was running after her.

“Clarke! Clarke, please! Wait!”  
She stopped, turning to face him, “What Bellamy?”

“Please, let me explain, let me apologize.”  
His eyes were pleading with her.

There was a part of her that wanted to scream at him, make him feel like crap, make him feel like she did last night, like she does now. There was also a part of her that wanted to sit down and listen to him, hoping that his reason was good enough, to just forgive him. But she chose to not take any of those options. She wasn’t going to yell, she wasn’t going to cry, she wasn’t going to freak out on him. She just didn’t have it in her to fight anymore, to let her heart get hurt over and over again.

“Bellamy, there is nothing to explain or apologize for.” The surpised look on his face was mirroring Murphy’s, who had fallowed them out.

“What? Of course there is! What do you mean?”

“I mean, there is no need to apologize, it’s not a big deal.” She heard Roan’s truck, before she saw it, but then it was pulling around the corner. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, my ride is here to take me to my car.” She turned to walk away, but he had reached out and grabbed her wrist.

“Princess, talk to me, yell at me, tell me to go to hell. Something! Just say something, please.” Bellamy paused, running his other hand thruogh his hair before going on, “At least let me take you to your car.”

“There is nothing to yell about. Something came up, and you couldn’t make it. Simple as that. No worries. And I don’t need you to take me to my car, Roan is here, he’s going to take me.”

Roan had gotten out of his truck, and was holding the passenger side door open for her, she could see the surpise, and what looked like jealousy cross Bellamy’s face. But, she must have been seeing things. There was no way he could be jealous of anyone she hung out with, he had Echo to keep his time anyways. With that, she tugged her hand out of Bellamy’s grip and started walking towards the truck.

Turning to look over her shoulder, she called out to Murphy, “Thanks Murphy, for everything.” She climbed up into the truck, and roan had shut the door, jogging around to climb into his seat. And they were on the road. She didn’t want to admit, nor would she admit that she watched Bellamy’s face fall in the mirror, as they drove away.

She felt Roan’s hand reach over, grabbing her’s, giving it a squeeze. “Hey, you okay?

She looked over smiling at him, she may not be, but she would find a way to be, “I will be. Thanks for coming and picking me up.”

He squeezed her hand again, “Anytime, I’m here for you whenever you need.”

Clarke gave him a small smile, before looking out the window, wondering how so much has changed in just a year. This was going to be hard, but she knew what she had to do, for herself and for Bellamy to be able to have the relationship he wants with Echo.

But that didn't mean it wasn't going to suck and hurt like hell.


	10. Chapter 10, CLARKE POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke needs to do what is best, for her, and for Bellamy. No matter how hard that may be.  
Bellamy wants to fix his huge mistake so badly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not get a chance to edit this yet, so I am sure that there are plenty of mistakes. I will go back through it and edit it later. I made you all wait so long for the last chapter, I figured I owed you a few!
> 
> Let me know who's POV you like best, if you'd like me to do more of Bellamy, or Clarke, or even add some other POV's in there!

CLARKE

Clarke felt bad for just leaving Roan after he had taken time out of his day to come and pick her up and take her to her car. But, to be fair, she was not in a place to be good company right now. She needed some time and space from everyone. She made sure to thank him and let him know that she would be in touch soon. She really had missed hanging out with him. He was a great guy. She had been sitting in her car for the past 15 minutes just down the road from her house. Trying to decide the best way to go about everything. She was pretty sure that Bellamy was either there or over at Echo’s. She didn’t see Echo’s car, so she was hoping that meant that she wasn’t there at least, if she was going to put on a brave face and try to get through this, then she couldn’t be there. 

Clarke let out a long breath, she had been holding in, and put her car in drive. She pushed the button for her stall in the garage and pulled in. She was relieved when she saw that Bellamy’s truck was not there. She quickly got out, and headed inside to her room. Just in case he were to pop out of somewhere and corner her. As soon as she made it to her room, she shut the door, locking it. 

She had briefly thought about just moving out, that would probably be best, but she knew she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not yet anyways, as she looked around her room, a room with reminders of all the memories she had made with her best friend over the years, she slid down the door, landing in a crumpled mess on the floor, her body shaking with the silent sobs that couldn’t stop if she wanted to.

She would put on a brave face, for all of their friends, for him. He was happy with Echo, so she would find a way to be happy for them. No matter how she felt, no matter that she wished she was Echo. She didn’t know when it had started to happen, when she had made the mistake of starting to fall in love with her best friend, all she knew was that she had. And, now she was here, in a ball on her floor, crying over something that would never be. She knew that she couldn’t be close to him like she was before, she also knew that she couldn’t be around Echo and him, but she couldn’t leave either. So she would be here, but she would distance herself. Slowly but surely she would put up that barrier that they needed to go on with their lives. He would get over it, if he even noticed it. She would still live here for now, she couldn't let go of that last little piece of their lives together, but eventually she knew she would have to leave. Eventually he would want Echo to move in, and there was no way that she would stay around for that.

She wiped away the tears, cleared her throat, and got up. She would start packing away small things, from around the house, slowly erasing herself from the friendship. That was her goal anyways, to become just roommates who sometimes said hi in passing.

*****

Clarke was in the kitchen, cleaning up the dishes from her dinner when she heard the door coming in from the garage, open and close. Her music was too loud, she hadn’t heard the garage door open, or his truck pull in. Had she, she would have booked it to her room, putting this off as long as possible. 

The music stopped, knowing he had turned off the speaker, she slowly turned to face him. He was standing there, with his arms folded over his chest, and clenching his jaw. She had known him a very long time, and with that came knowing how to read him and his moods. 

He was pissed.

“Do you know how much driving and calling I have done today, trying to find you?”

“You saw me leave with Roan, you knew I was going to go and get my car. There was no reason for you to go looking for me Bellamy.” She folded her arms across her chest, mimicking his stance. Two could play this game.

“I know that! But you wouldn’t answer my calls, and I didn’t know where you would go after you got your car.” He let out a frustrated growl, “You left without even talking to me this morning Clarke! You wouldn’t let me explain or apologize.” She went to speak, but he put his hand up, stopping her. “Please, I am not finished, you have managed to get away every time that I have had something to say, I am not letting that happen again.” He paused briefly before carrying on.

“I know you said that everything is fine, but I know you Clarke. I know that it is not. I also know that you don’t drink enough that you need someone to drive you home.” He unfolded his arms, reaching up and running a hand through his hair, then down his face, “I am so sorry Clarke. I cannot even begin to apologize enough, but I will try. I will never forgive myself for forgetting our plans, or standing you up like that. I am beyond sorry. It was a long day at work, and Echo picked up and took me to the movies. I had given her my phone to hold on to, and it was silent from being in the movies. Neither of us meant for that to happen, she had forgotten about my plans with you as well, she was just trying to cheer me up from my day at work. We are both so sorry.”

Clarke could barely keep the scoff in, he really believed that Echo had not remembered that he had made plans with her, and he really believed that she was just being sweet. She didn’t understand how the Bellamy she had known all these years, couldn’t see through all of this. He was blind, he was blind to anything and everything when it came to Echo. 

If there was any part of her that was reconsidering her plans, it was gone now. She couldn’t do this, she couldn’t deal with this anymore. 

Before he could say anything else, she quickly spoke up, “Bellamy, honestly it’s fine. I have been there, I have had long days and gotten things mixed up.” She knew she was telling him what he wanted to hear, because there was no truth to it, she would never forget him. There was no way she could. But she went on anyways, “And I know that right now, you are trying to balance everything in your life. From work, your relationship, me coming back without any notice, it’s a lot to handle. I get it. I am not holding it against you. I just want to move on from all of this. I am sorry that I worried you today.” All she could do, was hope that she was convincing enough.

Bellamy let out a sigh, “Thanks Princess, I really am sorry, and I plan to make it up to you.”

It had worked, he believed her. “There is no need, because there is nothing to make up for. Now, I’m sorry, but I have an early shift, so I am going to go take a shower and head to bed. I’ll see you later.” She gave him a small smile wanting to show him that it was fine, that they were okay, no matter that they weren’t.

She saw his face fall, but he nodded his head, “Yeah, okay. I understand, the Princess needs her beauty sleep.” He was trying to make a joke, trying to end this all on a good note.

Clarke chuckled lightly, before heading up the stairs. She took a quick shower, and crawled into her bed. She could hear Bellamy turn on the History Channel in his room down the hall, and a small tear slid down her cheek. She hated that she was going to have to give all of this up eventually, she just hoped that he would be happy.


	11. Chapter 11, BELLAMY POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy starts to realize just how many changes are happening in his life, and he's not so sure he is okay with that.

BELLAMY

It had been two weeks. Two whole weeks since he had royally screwed up. Clarke had told him that they were fine, that it wasn’t a big deal, yet he barely saw her at all, and they lived together. Every time that they were all supposed to get together, he would arrive and she wouldn’t be there. One of their friends would say that something came up, or that she can been called back into work. Which isn’t really unbelievable, she was a doctor and worked in the ER after all. But, he could’t help the feeling that she was distancing herself from him.

Bellamy had purposefully not invited Echo over to the house, to keep as much peace as he could for right now. He either went to her place or they met somewhere. She had asked if he wanted her to stop by today, to hang out after work, and bring supper over, but he had declined. Telling her he had grading to do, and prepare for a big exam for his students. In reality, he just didn’t want her there, in case Clarke was home.

He wanted them to get along. Clarke, Octavia, and Echo were the most important women in his life, and not being able to have them all get along and be around each other was hard. O, hated Echo, and then there was everything that had gone down with Clarke and Echo, which of course made O hate Echo even more.

Bellamy let out a frustrated sigh, his life was a mess, and the one person that he would normally turn to, was not there. She was here, physically, but as far as their friendship went, it just wasn’t an option right now.

He had just hung up his keys when he heard her stall to the garage open. He listened for her to get out of her car, holding his breath at the thought of getting to see her, when he noticed that there were two car doors that opened and closed, and she was laughing at someone. Maybe Raven or Octavia were with her. But then he heard it, the deep voice that definitely did not belong to either of the women he had assumed was with her. And then the door was opening.

“Bellamy, hi.” She smiled at him as she hung up her keys, right next to his, and moved out of the way so Roan could come in.

“Hey man, how’s it going?” Roan reached out, offering his hand to shake in greeting. Bellamy did not want to shake it, he didn’t even want him in their house. Why was he here anyways Since when were they hanging out? He reached out, shaking it anyways.

“Hey, I’m good, and how are you? It’s been awhile since we’ve had you around.” He knew that he was being nosy, and slightly snarky, but he couldn’t help it.

“I’m good, and yeah I know. It’s been too long.”

Bellamy couldn’t miss the way Roan looked at Clarke when he said that. He could feel his fists clenching at his side. Why was this bothering him so much, he had never had a problem with Roan before.

“Well, I’m just going to run upstairs and change out of my scrubs. I’ll be down in just a sec.” Bellamy felt his eyes swivel and focus in as she reached out resting her hand on Roans arm, before leaving the kitchen, heading for the stairs.

“So, what are you two up to tonight?” As much as he didn’t want to know, he wanted to know.

“We are going to head over to the new art museum that opened recently. Clarke is so excited, she couldn’t believe that a new one opened while she was away. Then we are going to go get something to eat, and I’m going to take her to try out that new decorate your own dessert shop.” Roan smiled at him, like he knew this was driving him nuts.

That was a date. There was no way someone could say that wasn’t a date. This was the datiest date that anyone could ever describe. How dare he take her to the new museum, when it first opened, he could hardly wait for Clarke to get home so he could take her. How could he have forgotten. She had been home for a bit now, and he still hadn’t even brought it up. Probably because he had been too busy between work and Echo. He lost his chance.

“Oh, well that sounds like a good time, I am sure Clarke will love it.” All Bellamy could hope for, was that he sounded convincing enough. Because, he didn’t mean a word he had just said. He didn’t want them to have a good time, and he only wanted her to love it if he was the one taking her.

Before he could say anything else, Clarke had come down the stairs and was grabbing her purse. He noticed she was wearing a dress and heals. She never wore heals. And she looked good, she was wearing a dress that came to just above the knee, it had floral designs with dusty rose and sage on cream. It was perfect on her. She had even put earrings in. He could barely breathe, what was going on with him. 

He saw Roan reach for her keys, then putting his hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards the door. Bellamy had to restrain himself from ripping Roans hands off of her. She turned over her shoulder, “Have a good night Bellamy, I’ll see you later.” 

Then, the door was closed, and she was gone.

Bellamy didn’t know how long he stood there, just staring at the door. It felt like hours, when he heard his phone ring, and finally moved to grab it.

“Hey Bell!”

“O…. I think I lost her.”

There was silence on the other end, “Oh Bell. You haven’t lost her, both of your lives are just changing so much, and it’s just going to be different.”

“No, I’ve really lost her. Nothing is the same. I don’t even know her anymore, I have no clue what’s going on in her life. She just left with Roan. Roan. Like a date!”

He was breaking down, it was all finally hitting him.

“I’m on my way big brother.” And the line went dead. 

Somehow he found himself slumped down in the couch, by the time Octavia was coming in the front door. She sat down on the coffee table in front of him, reach out and grabbing his hands.

“Bell, I think it’s time you were brutally honest with yourself. Don’t you?”

He looked at her confused, what on earth did she mean by that?

“I have no clue what you are talking about O.”

“Your feelings for Clarke. And before you say anything, hear me out.” She rushed on, just in case he had decided to interrupt her. “For as long as I can remember, I have watched you be hopelessly in love with your best friend, refusing to acknowledge it or admit it. I think when she left, you took that as an opportunity to try and move on, that’s when you met Echo. I know that you have feelings for Echo, but I also know that you still have feelings for Clarke. If you don’t come to terms with that, and admit it to yourself, you are going to lose her. You haven’t yet, but you will.”

He tried to say something, anything, but nothing would come out.

“I know this is hard, and you have so much running through your head right now, but you need to figure it out Bell.

They were both silent for a bit, he let go of her hands, reaching up and running his hands through his already crazy hair, frantically. “Even if you are right, which I am not saying you are, how do I fix all of this? And what about Echo?”

“I can’t answer any of that for you, sorry, but that is on you. All I am saying, is that you need to come to terms with all of this, and be honest with yourself. Only then, will you get the answers that you need.”

He nodded his head, as she reached out hugging him. He had a lot to figure out, a lot to think about, and he better get started. Either way, someone was walking away hurt, he just didn’t know who that would be.


	12. Chapter 12, Mixed POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Echo decides it's time to take matters into her own hands, and Clarke thinks it's time to get away for a while.

ECHO

Echo had been trying to hang out with Bellamy all week, and he had an excuse each time. Last week she offered to bring dinner over, but he had turned her down saying he had too much work to do. It didn’t get past her that he hadn’t had her back to his house since everything had happened with Clarke.

She hit the punching bag again, the goal was to get out the frustration and anger. But, the more she thought about everything the angrier she got.   
By the time she had finished with her workout, she was covered with sweat, and breathing hard. She was not any calmer, if anything she was more worked up. Ever since Clarke had come home, her life had changed and her plans ruined. Bellamy had been distant and barely hanging out with her. She needed to do something but she just wasn’t sure what. She packed up her gloves in her gym bag, and headed to her car. Once there, she pulled out her phone, texting Bellamy.

“Hey, I just left the gym, do you want to get something to eat tonight?”

She started up her car, heading home, while waiting for him to text back. 

Echo had made it home, taken a shower, dressed and settled on her couch when he finally text her back.

“Sorry I can’t tonight, I am meeting Octavia. Raincheck?”

If she was upset before, now she is livid. It was just another excuse. It was time that she did something about it. She quickly got up off of the couch, grabbing her keys, and headed out the door. It was time to get what was hers back.

She was waiting a few houses down the road, trying to get a sign of who was home. She knew that Clarke would be getting home from her shift at the hospital soon, she had looked into her schedule a few weeks ago.

Right on time, she sees Clarke’s Tahoe come around the corner, pulling into her garage. When the garage door opened, Echo was able to peek inside, seeing that Bellamy’s truck was not there. Which meant now was her chance. She quickly pulled in front of the house, killing the engine before hopping out and heading to the front door. Not knocking, she pulled out the hidden key, she had found it at the beginning of their relationship. She unlocked the door, and headed in. 

Clarke let out a gasp, as Echo opened and shut the front door.

“Oh Clarke, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you! Bellamy said that you wouldn’t be home, so I just used my key.”

She saw the look of pure shock and betrayal cross her face, before she quickly masked it.

“Oh it’s fine! No worries, I just didn’t know you had a key, and Bellamy and I always use the garage so I wasn’t expecting anyone to come in the front.”

“Yeah he gave me a key a while a back, I hope that’s okay?” She pretended to be nervous and uncertain.  
“No, no that’s fine. I’m sure Bellamy must’ve mentioned it at some point and I just forgot.” Clarke paused, giving her a small smile, “Is there anything I can get you? Bellamy is out with Octavia tonight.”

Echo wanted to slam Clarke’s face into the wall, the gym really hadn’t helped her at all earlier. She didn’t need Clarke telling her where her boyfriend was.

“Yeah, he told me. I just thought that now was a good time to come over and get things ready.”

“Get what ready?” She could tell she had hooked Clarke. 

“Didn’t Bellamy tell you?” She waited a moment, just to be dramatic, “Oh goodness, I am sorry, I thought, with you guys being as Close as you are that he would have let you know.”

“Know what?” Clarke had crossed her arms over her chest.

“Bellamy asked me to move in. I came over to figure out what furniture I want to bring over, and make room in his room and the spare room for my other things.”

Now Clarke looked really confused, “He asked you to move in? And he is giving you his office? Bellamy loves his office space.”

She had her just where she wanted her. She knew that the 4th room was Clarke’s art room. It’s where she kept all of her paintings and art supplies. She had snooped around when her and Bellamy had first gotten together. He had caught her, and quickly told her that was Clarke’s space and no one was allowed in there.

“No, no.” She let out a soft chuckle, trying to play off the innocent look. “He said that I could have the 4th bedroom for my workout stuff, and extra things. Bellamy said that that room never gets used other than for storing old junk, and that it wasn’t a big deal if I took it over. So I was going to clean it out.” 

By the look on Clarke’s face, she had accomplished her mission. She was pissed, and about to cry.

“He said that?”

“Is something wrong? I don’t want to step on any toes, Bell said it wouldn’t be a big deal?” She made sure to use the nickname that he said only Octavia and Clarke call him.

“Nope. No problem at all. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go get a few things for the night, I picked up a double. If you could please leave the spare room alone for now, I will get my Junk out of there for you.” And with that, Clarke headed up the stairs and shut the door to her room.

Echo was finding it hard not to laugh at how easy that was. Her job here was done. She knew that Clarke was too proud to go and say anything to Bellamy about it, so she didn’t have to worry about that. It was easier than taking candy from a baby. She left through the front door, leaving the spare key where she had found it.

CLARKE

How could he?! She knew that things had been rough, she knew that she was distancing herself from him, and he had to have noticed it by now, but she never expected this. If he was going to have Echo move in, he would at least talk to her about it. Or at least she thought he would. The Bellamy that she used to know would never do this. But the truth was, she didn’t really know him anymore, did she? Things had been so different since she had been home.

She couldn’t believe that he would call her art junk. He had always encouraged her art, and even had got her a lot of her supplies as gifts. She still remembers the day that they had moved into their house and he had led her up the stairs, making her promise to keep her eyes shut. She had sighed, rolling her eyes at him, as she gave him a big smile and did as he asked. Once they had gotten up the stairs and to the room, he had told her to open them. He had brought over her art supplies, and gotten her some new things as well, and had it all set up for her. Saying that it was her new art studio. She had been so happy she cried, and hugged him.

Now he called it junk. There really was no way to go back, to have what they used to have. Even with distancing herself, there was still a part of her that hoped they would find a way to work everything out. She knew that they would only ever be friends, and she had accepted this, she had come to terms with him being with Echo, or at least she thought she had, until all of this happened.

She quickly packed a few bags, she wasn’t sure how long she would be gone, she just knew that she needed to get out of here for a while.

She grabbed her stuff, and headed out to the garage, loading up her car. She was trying to decide if she should leave him a note or not, deciding it would be best to. She knew that if it was her she would want him to.

She ran back into the kitchen, grabbing paper and a pen from the junk drawer, scribbling out a note for him, then headed back to her car. 

She couldn’t go to Murphy’s, she didn’t find it likely with everything that had done on, but if he did decide to come looking for that would be the first place he would look. She headed to Roan’s, she didn’t know where else to stay for now, and she needed a friend that wasn’t someone they were both friends with.


	13. Chapter 13, MIXED POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Octavia steps in, not exactly thrilled with Clarke, and what she is doing to her brother.

CHAPTER 13. CLARKE

Now that she was pulling up to Roan’s house, she was second guessing coming here. He was a great friend, but were they really at the point in their friendship, where she could just show up with her bags and hopes that he lets her stay? Well she was about to find out, because she was here, and he was walking down the front steps towards her.

She would be lying if she said that she didn’t find Roan attractive, she always had. His personality was great, and he was there for her, she wished so badly that she could be romantically available for him. She knew when he took her out, that it was supposed to be a date, but to be fair, he also knew that she was having a rough time with Bellamy, so it’s not like he was going into this blind with his feelings. He had asked her to just give it a chance, even if they ended with just a friendship. Clarke had had a blast on the “date”, and every other time that they hung out, but she was in love with her best friend, and she had told as much to Roan. 

He had been very understanding, and he wasn’t even upset. He still wanted to hang out, and be there for her, but he made her promise that if anything ever changed, and she wanted more, to let him know.

She chuckled as she noticed that he was coming down the steps barefoot, god she just wished she could let herself love this man.

He was opening the driver’s side door, when she realized she was just sitting here in her head.

“Hey, thanks for the call, but you know that you can come over whenever right? You can just show up.” He gave her a smile, as he put his hand out to help her out of the car.

“Thanks Roan, I don’t deserve your kindness.”

“That’s where you are wrong, you do deserve it, and so much more.” She knew she was blushing, at his compliment, and he knew that no matter what he said, she would disagree, so he pushed on. “So, what happened? Those look like bags in the back seat. Are you going somewhere?” He quirked his brow at her.

“Umm, well, actually I was kind of hoping… Well I was hoping that maybe I could stay here for a night?” She peeked up at him through her lashes, before rushing on, “Just for the night! Until I figure out my next move.”

“Hey, hey. It’s fine, you can stay here as long as you need. Come on, let me grab your bags.”

Clarke mentally kicked herself again, why couldn’t she just fall for him instead.

“I can’t thank you enough! But you don’t need to grab my bags! I just need one for tonight, no reason to bring them all in, and I can get it.” But he wasn’t having it, he gently put her to the side, opening the back door, grabbing all of the bags she had packed, before turning and heading towards the house.

“Shall we?” With a smirk on his face.

Clarke quickly fallowed him up the steps and into the house. Roan had already headed down the hall towards a guest room to set down her things, he was so good to her.

She was still standing in the in the entry way to his house when he came back.

“Come on, lets get you something to eat and drink. You look exhausted and you must’ve gotten off work recently.” She was surprised that he knew she had just gotten off of work, when he gestured towards her clothes. She looked down, to see that she was still in her scrubs, she hadn’t even taken the time to get changed.

Before she could respond, she heard her phone beep in her pocket. She pulled it out, a bit nervous to see who had texted her, as she fallowed roan to the kitchen. 

It was Octavia. She silently panicked for a moment, before finally just opening and reading it.

Octavia: “Hey, Bell and I are just finishing up, do you want to do a movie night like old times?”

Clarke hate the idea of lying to Octavia, she hated it so much, but if she told her the truth of everything, it would cause more drama, and she wasn’t ready for all of that.

Clarke: “Sorry, O. I got called back into work. I can’t tonight.”

Hoping that would work, and not cause the younger Blake to push or question her into more lies.

Octavia: “It’s okay, Bell and I are headed back to your place, we are gonna have one anyways, that way you can join when you get done!”

Before she could even type out another response, Octavia had sent another.

Octavia; “Bell mentioned you’ve been taking a lot of extra shifts at work. I am worried about you Clarke. You need to make sure you are taking time for you too. We miss you.”

It hurt Clarke to know that she was worrying Octavia, and it sounds like possibly her other friends, but she had to do this.

Clarke; “I know, I promise to take some time for me real soon. Thanks O. I hope you guys have fun.”

She pocketed her phone, and took a seat at the island bar in the kitchen, Roan was going back and forth between cupboards and the fridge.

“I hope you are okay with chicken Alfredo?” He waited for her nod of response, before continuing to move around the kitchen.

“That actually sounds amazing, thank you so much. I hope I’m not interrupting any plans tonight?”

“No, not at all actually. I had planned to give you a call and see if you were up to hanging out.” He was cutting up the chicken and putting it in the pan on the stove, “So you ready to tell me what put you on my doorstep tonight? Not that I’m complaining, I will gladly have you on my doorstep any day of the week.”

She let out a giggle at his flirting, but then remembered why she was here to begin with. She didn't really want to tell him, but at the same time she needed to tell someone what had happened with Echo.

“Echo showed up at my house while Bellamy was out with Octavia. He didn’t even let me know that she was stopping by, let alone that he had given her a key to OUR house.” Just thinking about it all and talking about it was getting her worked up. She had been hurt before, but now she was starting to get more on the pissed side of the situation.

“He did what? He gave Echo a key? To your house? Without telling you?” He looked surprised, “That doesn’t sound like something Bellamy would do. I know a lot has happened with you two lately, but he always talks to you about big decisions.”

“Yeah, that’s what I used to think too. Until I came home to find a stranger in my house beating the shit out of me.” She saw him tense at he words. She had talked to Roan about it all, but she knew he wasn’t happy about it.

“Well what’s your plan? Are you going to just step aside and let her move in?”

“I don’t really have a choice. He chose her, if I throw a fit, or say anything, then I am the bad guy. He would just move out with he anyways, if he is wanting to move on with their relationship, and he is ready for them to live together, there is nothing that I can do or say about it. Once Bellamy wants to do something, there is no changing his mind.”

Roan was silent for a few minutes, she just sat there, with her arms folded on top of the counter, when he finally spoke up.

“You didn’t answer my question though. What is your plan now?”

“Honestly, I have no clue. I just knew that I needed to get out of there and get some space from them. Hence, me showing up on your doorstep.”

“Which, we have been over, you are more than welcome to show up on my doorstep whenever you want.” He looked over his shoulder at her, smirking.

*********

OCTAVIA

Listening to Bellamy have an outright panic attack, was something she just couldn’t handle. After reading the note that Clarke had left, and trying to call her over and over to just be ignored, he was pacing back and fort, about ready to rip his hair out of his head.

They had spent a great night together, Bellamy had a lot going on up in that head of his, and needed someone to talk to about it all. Ever since she had pointed out that he was in love with Clarke, he was forced to face the feelings that he had been shoving deep down and locked away. Thinking back to their evening, she was so proud of her brother.

(FLASHBACK)

“I just don’t know what to do, O. I thought that i was really doing good with Echo, but then Clarke came back, and my life has been nothing but a mess.”

“I know you are dealing with a lot right now, but the only way to fix everything is to sort everything out, you have to know what you are feeling before you can do anything.” She gave him a look of sympathy, she wished she could just tell him what to do or how to feel, but this was something that he had to work out on his own.

Bellamy shook his head, “I know, but no matter what, someone comes out of this hurt, and there is nothing I can do to stop that.”  
She rubbed his back, “I know big brother, I know.” She got up off her couch, heading to the kitchen to grab them both a beer, they needed it. By the time she got back, he was leaning forward on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees, with his face buried in his hands. “Here ya go, you look like you need this, bad.”

He took the beer, tipping it back instantly.

“So, do you have any idea on which way you’re leaning? What you want to do?”

“Yeah. Yeah I think so. I just need a little time to make sure it’s the right thing. Because, it’s going to ruin everything, and it’s going to hurt like hell.”

“You know I’m here for you, no matter what.”

“Thanks O. When did you become the smart one in the bunch?” Bellamy gave her a smirk.

“Whatever, I’ve always been the smart one, you can ask anyone.”

“She’s right, and I’m not just saying that because I live with her and I’m also slightly terrified of her.” Lincoln said from the doorway.

Bellamy laughed as his sister threw a pillow towards the general direction of her other half.

(END OF FLASHBACK)

OCTAVIA

Why on earth would Clarke just leave. She had read over the note, over and over again. It didn’t say much, it didn’t even say where she was. Just that she had taken some personal days, and that she needed some space, to get away. Not to worry or call her, she’d be back. 

That was it. That was the only information that she had left. Octavia had been on Clarke’s side with the whole Echo mess, but this, this was hurting her brother, and there was no explanation as to why. Why now?

As far as Bellamy had let on, they were fine. Well as fine as they could be. They had been giving each other space, he hadn’t had Echo over, he had actually been taking a bit of space from her as well, trying to figure everything out. So why now? 

She looked over, as Bellamy tried yet again to call Clarke, still no answer. She stepped into the other room, pulling out her phone to text Clarke.

Octavia: Clarke. Meet me at the park bench we always go to, to feed the birds. I will be there in 30 minutes. No excuses, it’s just going to be me.

Clarke: …..okay.

Octavia had been waiting 5 minutes, she was starting to panic that just maybe she wasn’t going to show up, when she heard someone coming up the path.

It had not been easy leaving Bellamy, but he need answers, and she was going to get them. She got him to calm down enough to sit down on the couch. He refused to let go of his phone, just in case Clarke called him. She turned on the tv, telling him she would be right back, she was just going to run home and get a few things to stay over.

“Well, I am glad to see that you are okay, and that you showed up.” She was trying hard to keep the snarkiness out of her voice, but it wasn’t working very well.

Clarke took a seat next to her, she at least had the sense to look a little guilty.

“I just needed some space, with everything that is going on.”

“Space? You needed space? What on earth could you need space from?!” She new her voice was starting to rise, but she didn’t care.”Bell has been giving you space, and even with that, you basically bolt out of the house when you guys are around each other.”

Clarke ducks her head, but not before she sees a single tear make its way down Clarke’s cheek.

“I know. I know. I just-” But Octavia didn’t want to hear her excuses.

“You KNOW?!” She scoffs, “You know nothing. Do you know that Bellamy is an absolute mess right now? He’s ripping his hair out back at home, and he refuses to let go of his phone, in case you call!”

Clarke lets out a small gasp at that. “I never meant to worry him. I just, I just had to get out of there. After everything she said-” Octavia cut her off again.

“After everything who said?” She swore to herself internally, this whole situation had that manipulative Echo written all over it. How Bellamy couldn’t see that in her, blew her mind.

“Nothing, it’s fine really. I just needed to gather myself and make some plans. I never meant to worry Bellamy. I am so sorry for all of this O.” She was shaking her head back and forth, trying to backtrack on what she said.

“Clarke. Tell. Me. Now.” She let out a sigh, “Who is she, and what did she say?”

Clarke was fumbling with her hands, nervous and clearly panicking.

“Okay, but please don’t say anything to Bellamy.” Octavia nodded, she didn’t want to make a promise, that she may not be able to keep, but she nodded to encourage her to keep speaking.

“Echo stopped by the house tonight, which is fine, really it is. It just surprised me, because I didn’t know that Bellamy had given her a key.” She let out a long breath before pushing on, “I just wish he had talked to be about these things. I know things have been different, and strained between us, but I also thought that that he would at least tell me himself.”

“Clarke, tell you what?”

“That he had asked Echo to move in with him.”

Octavia couldn’t stop the gasp that erupted from her. Move in with him?! He wouldn’t, she knew he wouldn’t because of how he’s been feeling. Especially after the conversation they had had tonight. Clarke had also mentioned that he had given her a key, that didn’t sound like him either. Why would he do that when he has been trying to keep distance between the two women?

“Clarke, are you sure that he did that? That doesn’t sound like something Bellamy would do, especially not without discussing it with you first.”

Clarke was silently crying now, and nodding her head up and down, “He did, she told me. And he had to have given her her own key, because she let herself in with it tonight. Then she told me she was there to clean out our junk room. She said that Bellamy told her that she could clean it out for her extra things, to have space of her own. She said it was just where we store all the junk and miscellaneous items.” She let out a broken sob, “O, he called my art studio the junk room. He called all of my art junk. How could he do that? He was the one to get me most of it.”

Suddenly, Octavia wasn’t so angry with the women next to her. She reached out pulling her in for a hug. “Shhh, Clarke, it’s okay. I don’t know why Echo said those things, but I do know that Bellamy would never say anything like that. He loves your art, he brags about you all of the time.”

They just sat there hugging for a while, the woman in her arms had finally quieted down, when she pulled away.  
“O, I love him. More than I ever thought possible. No matter how much it hurts, I just want to see him happy. So, that’s why I have to do this. He has made his choice, he wants to be with Echo, and I could never ask him not to be. He is my best friend. So that’s why I am going to figure out what I have to do next, and make things easier on him. He never had any issue while I was away, and I want it to be like that again for him.” 

Clarke reached out, hugging her one more time before turning and leaving. Octavia was too stunned to talk, mush less move. 

Clarke Griffin had just admitted she loved her brother, and she was going to leave so he could be happy. That was the last thing that would make him happy. 

How on earth did things get so messed up, how did the people she loved most end up here?


	14. Chapter 14, BELLAMY POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy is faced with some cold truth, that he has a hard time believing. Octavia is tired of the ones she loves getting hurt, she reaches out to a friend to help her try and fix this mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry about the wait. It's just crazy with 3 little ones! Then of course all of the mass hysteria going on around. So I have a few chapters for you today! Hopefully help a few not be so bored during the social distancing.

CHAPTER 14. BELLAMY

“You saw her?!” He jumped off the couch, as Octavia glanced around his living room, avoiding eye contact. “How was she? Why did she leave?” 

Before she could even answer his questions, Bellamy was pulling his phone back out, calling Clarke again. It rang twice, before being sent to voicemail yet again.

“Bell, I need you to calm down, because I have questions, and I know you have questions. But you freaking out right now, it’s not going to get us anywhere.” She was gesturing to the couch, wanting him to sit back down. He let out a groan, as he sunk down into the cushions.

“Fine, but I want it known that I don’t like this.” He ran his hand through his curls, trying to gain some control over everything, but knowing that was beyond possible.

“I’m going to start with, did you give Echo a key to the house?” She was eyeing him carefully, waiting for his response.

“What? A key to my house? No, of course not. This is Clarke’s and my house, I would never do that, especially not without talking to Clarke about it first. Why? Did she say that I did?”

He watched O relax a bit, and let out a sigh. “Echo was here tonight. She let herself in the door, with a key she said that you gave her.” Now O was really watching for his reaction.

“That is absurd, Echo doesn’t have a key. And she had no reason to stop by tonight, I told her that I was with you. Why would she have even wanted to stop by. Her and Clarke don’t know each other.” None of this made sense. She didn’t have a key, so she couldn’t have let herself in, so even if she did stop by, the front door must’ve been unlocked.

“Clarke said that Echo TOLD her, that you gave her a key, because she is moving in with you.” 

Before he could respond, he heard Octavia’s phone go off, she reached for it, quickly reading whatever the text was, and rapidly sending a response.

“It’s her, isn’t it?”

She let out a sigh, “Yeah, Bell, it is. I told her to let me know when she got home.”

“Home? Where is home? This is her home.” He was beyond worried at this point, now he was getting frustrated. She was always running out, she couldn’t just sit down and talk to him, and he was getting fed up with it. How were they supposed to fix their friendship, if she wouldn’t even talk to him about things.

“She’s staying with a friend.” 

He knew that it wasn’t Murphy this time, because that’s the first place he would look, and she knew that. It wasn’t O’s, it could be Raven’s but he doubted it. They hadn’t been as close since she had gotten back, plus Raven was way too busy with work, Clarke would never want to bug her. Then it hit him.

“She’s with Roan, isn’t she?”

“Bell, did you ask Echo to move in with you? Maybe there was a misunderstanding, you said something and that’s the way she took it?” She completely ignored his question, pushing on with the questioning of Echo.

“No, O, there was no misunderstanding, I did not ask Echo to move in with me. This all just sounds like a mess. An excuse for Clarke to run away again, and I am getting tired of it. If she doesn’t want to talk to me, then fine, but she doesn’t need to drag Echo through the mud.”

“You know that Clarke is not a liar. Why would she make this stuff up Bellamy?” She was getting frustrated too, her arms were crossed over her chest, and her face was pissed.

If Bellamy was thinking clearly, and not with anger blinding him, Bellamy would know that Clarke was not a lier, he also knew that she would never try and sabotage his relationship. But, he wasn’t thinking clearly, he was letting his emotions run him.

“I don’t know anything about Clarke, this is not the Clarke that has been my best friend for years. This is not the Clarke that I said goodbye to months ago.” His back was to his sister now, he couldn’t handle to look her in the face. She quietly spoke from behind him.

“Bell, you know that’s not true, and if you don’t, and you truly believe what you just said, then maybe you don’t deserve her friendship. Maybe you don’t deserve to know her anymore.” 

He couldn’t respond, what could he say back to that. How could his sister be taking her side in all of this? Couldn’t she see how much this was killing him? His best friend was constantly running away from him, his girlfriend was being slightly crazy, and he was trying to figure out just how long he had been in love with Carke Griffin. To say he was a mess, would be an understatement. 

Bellamy knew that he loved Clarke, he always had, but at some point, without him knowing, it had moved from friendship to life long partner kind of love. 

Then there was Echo. His girlfriend, who had been here for him for months. He cared for her, part of him even loved her, but he knew it wasn’t the type of love that he held for Clarke. He refused to hurt Echo, especially if Clarke couldn’t even be bothered to be around him.

“Bell, I’m going to go.” She paused, he could tell she was contemplating what she was about to say next. “You have a lot to figure out, not just about Clarke or Echo, but yourself. You need to come to terms with how you feel before you try and fix anything with anyone else. I love you big brother.” 

He heard the door shut behind her. He hated to admit it, but she was right. He had a lot to figure out.

OCTAVIA

“Murphy, I am on my way over. We need to sit down and talk. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

She hung up, not even giving him a chance to respond. Octavia knew that Clarke and Murphy had gotten closer, especially since she had gotten back. If anyone would be able to help her fix this giant mess, it would be Murphy. 

She hated seeing one of her best friends, and her brother go through this. The two had been idiots for years. How they hadn’t picked up on the fact that they were in love with each other, when everyone else could see it, she just couldn’t figure out. The two would basically shut down when one would get into a relationship, and constantly glaring at the poor individual who was joining a weird love triangle, without even knowing it. 

Murphy was at the front door, waiting for her when she pulled into his driveway.

“Murphy, we got some shit to figure out.” Octavia walked past him, into the house.

“Sure, please come in, Octavia. Make your-” Murphy had stopped talking when he turned around to find her grabbing a beer out of the fridge. The sarcasm that had been dripping from each word he said, did not go unnoticed by her.

Lifting her now open beer, “Thanks for the beer. Now let's talk.”

Murphy just shakes his head, reaching around her to get his own bottle of beer.

By the time they were settled at the table, Octavia had already rattled off most of what had happened recently.

She watched as Murphey took a long drink, before he let out a sigh. “How did these two get to this point? I mean it’s Clarke and Bellamy.” He paused, she could tell he was thinking something over.

“Do you think that what Clarke said about Echo is true?” She had to ask, she thought so, but Bellamy was so sure that it was just a misunderstanding.

“You don’t? I mean, you know just how schemey she is. I also don’t believe Clakre would lie, especially about something like this.” Again he paused.

“What’s going on in that twisted brain of yours?”

“When Clarke first got back, and she was staying here, she opened up a bit. I know it’s not my place to tell what happened, but she went through something pretty big while she was away. I don’t think she can handle dealing with this whole ‘crazy Echo’ thing, and losing Bellamy on top of it.”

Octavia wanted to badger him until he told her what was going on, but she knew he would never betray Clarke like that. Somehow the two had really bonded and became close. If she hadn’t seen just how close they had gotten, hearing that she trusted him with something so big, would be proof enough of their friendship.

“So what do we do?”

“You’re not going to like it.” He was smiling at her. So she really wasn’t going to like it.

“Probably not, but let's hear it.”

“We get them really drunk, and then lock them up together. Force them to be in a situation where they have no choice but to sort things out and be vulnerable with each other.” Murphy had gotten back up to get another beer, handing her one as well, before going on. “While also making sure that Echo stays away so they can actually have a chance to sort it all out without her meddling.”

“They aren’t going to like this. They aren’t going to like this at all. But, it’s also our only option. SO, let’s figure out and plan how we are going to get these two idiots together.

It took a lot of beer, but by the time Octavia had left Murphy’s, they had a plan. A slightly crazy plan, but a plan nonetheless.


	15. Chapter 15, Bellamy's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellamy is still trying to deal with the fact that Clarke is not talking to him, and she didn't even try to explain, she just ran away, again. He ends up having an Echo confrontation, that may just turn his world upside down.

BELLAMY

A day. It had been a full 24 hours, and still no response from Clarke. Bellamy was going through so many different emotions. How could she just ignore him like this, like their friendship meant nothing? 

Bellamy ran his hand through his hair for what must have been the 100th time in the last hour. He was trying to get some work done, grading some papers, and posting grades, but he couldn’t focus.   
BUZZ-BUZZ-BUZZ 

Bellamy could hear his phone buzzing with an incoming text, but had no clue where it was in his mess of a desk. He started shifting papers around, finally finding it under a stack of essays.

Echo. 

He had barely talked to her in the last 24 hours. He didn’t want to believe what Octavia had told him. That’s not the Echo that he knows, why would she make all of that up? What could she possibly gain from that? She had to know, if in fact what O said was true, that he would find out about her lies. 

He let out a sigh, before answering.

“Hey, sorry, I have been swamped with work.”

“It’s okay, I just really miss you, and I haven’t heard from you much lately, so I was worried about you.”

How could this be the same woman that beat the crap out of Clarke? “Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you, or ignore you. It’s just been really crazy around here. How have you been?” He had started Picking his desk up and organizing everything, while listening to her response.

“It would be better if I got to see my boyfriend. You know, handsome man that goes by Bellamy Blake?”

“I know, I know. I am the worst boyfriend. I will make more time for you.”

He could hear the words coming out of his mouth, but he couldn’t feel them. They were just words, words that he knew she wanted and needed to hear, but there was no feeling there.

“Thank you baby. What about right now? I could come over and bring you supper? We could make a whole night of it?”

He knew, even before she had finished that sentence, he knew. He would be coming up with some sort of an excuse. He didn’t want her here, not in the house that was his and Clarke’s.

“I really wish I could, but tonight I have to get these papers graded and grades put in. I’m sorry, but I will make time for you when I am done!”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and part of him wondered if the call had dropped, or if she had just hung up on him.

“Bellamy, you never make time for me anymore.”

“I’m just so busy with work, when everything slows down we will get this all sorted out.”

“I thought this conversation was going to go a different direction…” She let her sentence trail off, before he could respond, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll call you right back, someone’s at the door.” Bellamy hung up before running down the stairs.

“Hey, can I-” He paused, surprised by the person on the other side of his door. “Echo?”

“Yeah, I had already picked up dinner and was on my way here when I called you.”

He didn’t want to, which surprised him, this was his girlfriend, but he didn’t want to let her in. But this was Bellamy Blake, of course he was going to let her in. He stepped to the side, letting her pass him.

“Look Bellamy, I want this, I am going to fight for this. So here I am.” She didn’t look nervous or shy, she looked sure.

She was saying everything that He could want to hear, she was stating that she wanted him, and she was here, making an effort, not running away. 

He couldn't help that last thought that ran through his mind.

But, even though she was here, she was trying, and she was telling him exactly what she wanted, it felt wrong. He wanted to hear all of this, but he wanted to hear it coming from a different woman.

Even if Clarke never knew how he felt, if there was never anything more than a friendship there, he knew that he could never continue this with Echo. It was wrong, to him, to Echo, and to Clarke.

“Echo, I like you a lot, but I just can’t do this. I can’t be with you, I can’t be the person that you need me to be.” He was rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, hating that he was going to hurt her. But, no tears came.

“Really Bellamy? You are going to end this?” She gestured back and forth between them, “For what? For a friend that wants nothing to do with you? Someone that won’t communicate with you and runs away at the first chance? Someone that scares off so easily?” She was angry, if the venom in her voice didn’t give that away, the daggers she was sending him did.

Then it hit him. All at once, like a ton of bricks.

“What do you mean? Someone that scares off so easily? Someone that runs away?”

Bellamy hadn’t shared anything with Echo, about what had been going on with Clarke. The last the Echo had heard was from the night that he had been at her apartment. The night that he had stood up Clarke. The night that Echo had taken his phone. How could he be so stupid?

He could see her hard expression falter, just for a moment, but long enough. 

“Echo, I never told you anything about Clarke.”

“I just ran into her briefly yesterday, I had stopped by to surprise you, that’s all. She was packing a bag to leave.”

That’s when he knew, everything O had said, was true.

“Echo, we are done. I don’t ever want to see you again. I don’t ever want to see you around my friends, my sister, or Clarke.” If he noticed that he separated Clarke from the rest of his friends, he ignored it, shoving it to the side for now.

She scoffed at him, “She is weak, pathetic, an excuse of a person and yet you choose her. I never stood a chance did I?”

“I am seeing everything in a whole new light. Don’t you dare blame this breakup on Clarke. This is all on you Echo. You never stood a chance, the moment you decided to mess with my relationships with my friends.”

Then another thought occurred to him, “You had seen pictures of Clarke before, on my facebook and here in our home.” How could he have been so stupid, how could he have not pieced it together before? “It wasn’t that dark that night, and how did you get out of bed that fast? If you had gotten out of bed when you heard the front door open, then why didn’t you wake me? Also, why did you wait till she came into the room? Obviously you had heard her, you could have called the police, woken me up, or something. You had so many options, yet you got up quietly and listened to her come up the stairs. Which I know Clarke, she is not that quiet. The little night light was on at the top of the stairs, like it is every night so no one trips down the stairs.” He felt overwhelmed, it was all coming together. So much that he had missed. How, just HOW?!

“Bellamy-” But he wasn’t done, and he wasn’t going to let her try and talk her way out of this anymore.

“The door, Echo. The door to my room was open when we went to bed that night. So you would have seen her coming up the stairs, and there was enough light that you would have been able to recognize her from all of the photos.”

There was real fear on her face now, he had figured it all out.

“You heard her, you got up knowing that I am a heavy sleeper, once you saw that it was her, you closed the door before she got to the top of the stairs, and you waited.”

How could he have been with someone that was capable of such manipulative actions, someone that willingly hurt Clarke.

“You attacked her on purpose.” She had taken a defensive stance, like she was ready to bolt out the door.

“Why? She had never done anything to you? You had never even met her before!” He was beyond pissed now, he could feel his hands clenching at his side, he would never hit a woman, but that didn’t stop the absolute rage flowing through his body.

“How could you not see it? I could see it and I had never even met her. You were so sickeningly in love with her, and you didn’t even know it. You panicked when you didn’t hear from her while she was gone. You have an extra room for her art things. Even though she wasn’t even here, if you saw anything to do with art, you got it for her, putting in her ‘studio’. There were times on our dates, you would see something and have to stop to get it for Clarke. She doesn’t care about you, she left the country and barely kept in touch. Yet I am the bad guy here?” She scoffed at him again.

“Whatever Bellamy, you will regret this, I can promise you that.” Then she was gone.

How could he have brought someone like this into their lives?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We still have a way to go with this one, don't worry. Just because there was an Echo blow up, does not mean that it's time for Bellarke ever after. That would be just too easy! Sorry! But, we will start seeing more Bellarke conversations, more angst, and of course Octavia and Murphy still don't know about the Becho blowup, so their plan may or may not be still in motion. What the the fallout from that going to be? That may just set a whole different chain of reactions off. 
> 
> I hope you are enjoying it so far! I am sorry for any mistakes or issues. I always love hearing back from you guys! Let me know what you think of it so far, what you think may be ahead for these two, or what you may like to see? I have it all pretty much set up, but a little added twist here and there is always fun!


	16. Chapter 16 Mixed POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murphy and Octavia's plan is finally put into action, and the long awaited confrontation between Bellamy and Clarke happens.

MURPHY POV

“You know that they are going to hate this, right? Like this may literally blow up in our faces.” Emori was helping him stock the fridge and cupboards with their grocery haul.

“Yeah, probably, but what other choice have they left us? You saw Clarke when she was at our place last time.” He shook his head, remembering the many different times that she had cried herself to sleep in his spare room, since she had been back. “Plus, they never like my plans, how would this be any different than usual?”

They both turned as they heard the front door open, and slam shut. “I did my part! How is it going here?” Octavia set her bag of things down on the floor, before reaching into the fridge for a bottle of water.

“We are just about done, just got everything put away, is Lincoln with Bellamy?”

“Yup, he just texted me, they just got to the bar and Linc’s already got a beer down him. Raven also texted, her and Clarke are out too.”

So far so good, Murphy thought to himself. Hopefully the rest of the plan went this well.

“Alright, well then I say we finish up here, and check in with them in a bit.” Murphy closed the cupboard, throwing away the grocery sack that was now empty. “Plus I could really use a beer.”

“What? Are you stressing out already?” Emori and Octavia laughed at him, but the truth was, he was stressing out. He wanted his friends back, he wanted them happy and only they could do that for each other.

“Who me? Never, nothing gets to me, you know that.” Passing off their giggles, he knew it, and they knew it, that was a lie.

BELLAMY POV

“I just feel so bad. How could I have been so stupid?” Bellamy had his head in the crook of his arm, pouring his heart out to his sister’s other half. “I was the reason Echo was there, I was the reason she beat Clarke up. I was the reason I lost my best friend.”

“Oh come on man, you haven’t lost her. She just needed some space for a while. But I am sure once you get a chance to sit down and talk it out, you guys will be just fine.”

“No we won't, she won't talk to me. She won’t even come home. I ruined everything.” Bellamy lifted his head up just enough to take another drink of his beer. “She doesn’t even know that I love her, or that Echo and I have been done for 3 weeks.”

“I am sure she will come around, I mean she has to see you at some point, all of her things are still at your place.”

“OUR place. It’s not my place, it’s Clarke’s and my place. Our place.”

LINCOLN POV

Lincoln held his hands up in surrender, knowing that’s not what he meant, but that drunk Bellamy is even more stubborn than sober Bellamy. He reached in his pocket to pull out his phone, checking to see the time and if Octavia had messaged him. Bellamy was pretty much where they wanted him. He just hoped that this crazy plan would work.

RAVEN POV

“Come on Clarke, it’s not that bad. You guys can fix this, you just have to talk to him.” Raven and Clarke had been at the bar for the past 2 hours, and in that time they had managed to try every special, and drink on the suggested list.

“No, Rav you don’t understand. It is that bad. I can’t face him. I love him, which I still have no clue when that happened. But putting that aside, he has a girlfriend, one that he loves very much, and he is having her move in.” She paused, letting out a mangled sob, “He didn’t even tell me, and we used to always tell each other everything.”

“Well you haven’t exactly been very talkative towards him either.” She cocked her eyebrow at her friend.

“I haven’t been able to. Since the night I got home, it’s been nothing but a shit show. Plus, he is happy with her, I don’t want to be the one to take that away from him. He deserves it, to be loved.”

It took everything in Raven, to not spill and tell her friend that Bellamy was actually already done with Echo. She would have too, but she knew that they needed to talk this out, they needed to fix it. 

Clarke was plenty drunk, and she felt partly bad for having her out drinking to begin with. She was just getting over her strep throat, perks of working in a hospital. When Raven suggested bringing Clarke out for a few drinks, Clarke had assured her that she was over the contagious part, and was just about done with her antibiotics, adding on that she was a doctor after all. 

She was wondering just how much longer they would need to be out, when she felt her phone buzz. She swiped it open, quickly reading the text from Octavia, it was time for the next step.

“Alright you, it’s time to head out. Octavia wants us to meet her.” Raven raised her hand, signaling for the bartender to close her tab. She let out a long breath, hoping that this went like they all wanted it to.

OCTAVIA POV

“Okay, Raven and Lincoln are on their way there now. Once they get there, Raven and Lincoln will drop them off, telling them that I am inside waiting. They will make up some sort of excuse, saying they will be right behind them and leave as soon as they get into the house.”

She was pacing as she went over the next step of their plan, she couldn’t help it, she was getting anxious. She needed her best friend and brother to work this out.

“Well it’s just wait and see how it goes, now.” Murphy was drinking a beer, trying to act calm and collected, but she could tell he was freaking out too. 

She just hoped that this worked, and didn’t blow up too badly.

CLARKE POV

“Thanks for driving, I hadn’t planned on drinking this much tonight.” Clarke was grabbing her purse, and getting out of the car.

“I think you needed it tonight, go on in. I’ll be in in just a minute. I need to call Shaw real quick.”

She gave her friends a thumb up, before heading up the steps to the cabin. She hadn’t been here in forever. It really wasn’t that far from where they all lived, it belonged to Bellamy and Octavia. The two had grown up spending summers and weekends here, before inheriting it. As the friend group grew, they would spend weekends here to get away from college, or work. It had been a long time since they had had a weekend like that. 

As Clarke opened the front door, she heard someone in the kitchen. “Hey O, I’m here.”

The next thing she heard was glass breaking, then footsteps heading her way.

“Clarke?!”

She looked up from taking her shoes off, to see the one person she had been avoiding.

She’s not sure how she meant for it to come out, but she knew she hadn’t meant for it to be a whisper, but that’s exactly how his name left her lips. “Bellamy… What-what are you doing here?” She looked around, but not finding anyone else with him.

“Me? What am I doing here? This is my cabin. The better question would be what are you doing here? How did you know that I was here?”

He was mad. She could hear it in the tone of his voice, and if that hadn’t given it away, the way he was folding his arms across his chest, causing the muscles in his arms to bulge- She shook her head. She didn’t need to be having those kinds of thoughts now. She decided to blame it on the fact that she hadn’t seen him in a while, and the alcohol. Definitely the alcohol. Again shaking her head, trying to regain some composure, or at least enough to respond.

“Obviously I didn’t know you were going to be here, or else I wouldn’t have asked what you were doing here. I also wouldn’t have been calling out for Octavia. Where is O? She said she wanted me to meet her here.” Before he had a chance to respond she was digging through her purse, searching for her phone.

It wasn’t there. She searched her pockets as well. Nope, no phone. Letting out a groan, she looked up to the older Blake. “Do you have your phone? Mine seems to be missing.”

Shaking his head, he reached for his pockets, to come up empty as well.

“Shit, I don’t have mine either. Lincoln should be in soon though, he said he was just making a quick call.”

She let out another groan. Bellamy raised his brows at her. “Lincoln was not out there. We have been set up. Raven was supposed to be calling Shaw, then coming in. But, I bet that if I look out there right now, there is no Raven.” 

Bellamy walked past her, opening the door and sticking his head out.

“Son of a bitch!” He slammed the door shut.

She looked up at the man that was her best friend, the man that she had fallen in love with without even realizing it.

“We were played.”

Letting out a grunt, he gave her a scowl. “You don’t say, Princess.”

Hearing the venom in his voice, and the way he said her nickname had her blood boiling. How dare he? She was as much a victim to their friends as he was. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little excited to see him, let alone be forced to be around him and not have a chance to run. But, hearing how much being around her pissed him off just set her off.

“I’m so sorry being stuck around me is so hard for you. I’ll make sure to stay out of your way.” Clarke stormed off towards the kitchen. He was hot on her tail.

“Oh no you don’t, you don’t get to pout. You are the one who has been ignoring me, not coming home. You don’t get to act like I did something to you.”

She headed for the cupboard, still feeling the effects of the alcohol she had consumed earlier. Hoping some coffee would help her have a clear head. She saw there was already a pot brewed, and a broken mug on the floor. That must’ve been the glass braking she heard.

“Oh, so we are back to the silent treatment, huh?” She glanced over her shoulder at him as she poured her cup, ignoring all of the broken glass on the floor.

“Don’t be so dramatic Bellamy.”

Once she had her mug, she headed past him to the living room, grabbing a blanket out of the basket before sitting down on the couch. She was hoping he would just leave her be, the cabin was big enough, they didn't have to be in the same room as each other. But she wasn’t that lucky.

BELLAMY POV

Don’t be so dramatic Bellamy!?

Sure he was a bit drunk, and had in the past, gotten a little more on the dramatic and heated side when drunk, but for her to say that to him, after not saying anything for weeks, was like the cherry on top.

She had gone to the living room, to run away from him yet again. Not tonight.

She had just sat down under her blanket, when he came to a halt, standing over her, his arms over his chest. Man he loved this woman, but she was also the only person that could also infuriate him so much.

“Clarke, it seems you have forgotten, so I will remind you. You have been gone for weeks, refusing to talk to me. Staying with-” He paused, he could barely say his name. The thought of Clarke with anyone else made him see red and want to vomit at the same time. “-Roan.”

“I needed to go somewhere that I felt safe.” It was a jab, she said it to hurt him. And, it had worked.

“You are safe! That is our house! You are safe with me!”

“Bellamy, it seems you have forgotten, but on my first night home I was attacked and got my face broke.” He went to say something in return, assuring her that that would never happen again, but she wasn’t done. “By none other than your girlfriend!” She was standing now, full of anger and trying to make herself seem bigger than she was. “The same woman that you forgot to let me know that you gave a key to. A key to our house!” It was like a dam had broken inside her and she couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “The same woman who kindly told me that you gave her permission to clear out our ‘junk room’, so she could put her things in there. You called my art studio the junk room and just let her have it without even talking to me, Bell.” She wasn’t yelling anymore, she had slowly fizzled out.

“You moved forward and made your own life. I can’t blame you for that, I can’t blame you for trying to be happy. But somewhere along the way, you forgot about me. You forgot about our friendship, and again I want you to be happy, I just wish I didn’t have to lose you for that to happen. So yeah, I did stay away, I did stop talking, to make it easier on myself. To make losing you not hurt so much. I did it all so that you could be happy! But, I’m sorry Bell, but I can’t just sit back and act like it doesn’t hurt. I can’t just watch you be with her, and if that’s selfish of me, the so be it. I will do what’s best for you and myself by removing myself from the situation, and you don’t get to make me feel bad about that.” She turned to leave, heading towards the stairs.

He was stuck, he couldn’t move, think, or even breathe. Echo had clearly laid the lies on pretty thick with Clarke. But all of that aside, she couldn’t handle watching him with Echo. Did that mean what he thought it meant? Could she possibly feel the same way as he did? She still thought he was with Echo, he needed her to know that he wasn’t, that he never wanted her to move in. He needed to fix this. 

All at once it seemed, his body was pushed into motion, the next thing he knew he was running up the stairs, towards the bedroom she had hid herself away in. He didn’t even think to knock, he threw the door open, startling her. Before she could question him, he had grabbed her by her waist, pulling her close, then reaching up and grabbing her face, seeing the questions there. And then he was kissing her. Bellamy Blake was kissing Clarke Griffin, and nothing had ever felt so right. 

Somehow they had ended up on the bed, with clothes scattered around the room. If anyone had told him a few months ago that he was in love with Clarke and they would end up here, he would have laughed in their face. But, here he was, and he was happier than he had been in a long time. This felt right, this felt like home.

Bellamy pulled back from kissing her, looking over her face, seeing her swollen lips, feeling her underneath him and pulling him even closer. He could see it in her eyes, this is all she wanted, she felt the same way. Neither had voiced how they were feeling, but they didn’t have to, it was written all over their faces. She nodded her head to him, and he surged forward, capturing her lips in a heated kiss again. He wondered if he would ever tire of her kisses. Nothing could compare to her, to what was happening between them. It was everything.

And that’s exactly what she gave him, she gave him everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think? We finally got the big confrontation! Plus some much needed Bellarke time. I felt that you all deserved it, but I just want to warn you there are still some difficult times ahead. This is not over yet.


	17. CHAPTER 17. Clarke/Bellamy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is always a morning after drunken decisions, now it's time for Bellamy and Clarke to not only face that morning, but each other. Sober.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this one is a bit shorter than last time. It's been soo crazy lately. We got pigs and chickens for our little farm, plus my twins are about to turn 1 and my toddler is full of energy. So I wanted to make sure you all knew that I have not abandoned this, it's just taking me a bit.

Clarke rolled over, letting out a groan. Her head was pounding, she had way too much alcohol the night before. The night before. It all came flooding back to her, as she reached over for Bellamy, to find an empty bed. She sat up quickly, looking around the room, seeing their clothes all over the floor.

“Bell?” She called out for him, hoping he was still here.

She didn’t hear any response, or any sound at all. Clarke felt her stomach drop, he didn’t feel the same. Last night was just high emotions and too much alcohol for him. She felt like crying as she got herself out of bed, and headed for the bathroom. 

After taking a sower, she felt a little less grimy, but the feeling in her stomach just wouldn’t go away. She was hoping that after last night, they would finally be able to talk, she wanted to tell him how she felt. 

As she made her way to the kitchen, it hit her. He was with Echo. She had forgotten about Echo. She may have hated the woman, but Bellamy didn’t. He was in love with her, he was having her move in with him. She was now the other woman.

That was why he left, he couldn’t stand what they had done. She didn’t think it was possible for her heart to ache any more than it had over the past few weeks, but it did. She knew that she loved him before their night together, but after seeing a glimpse of those feelings being returned, getting to spend a night with him, how was she ever supposed to just go back to how things were before. How were they supposed to just go back to being friends? Were they even friends right now? They hadn’t spoken in weeks.

Clarke sunk down into one of the kitchen chairs, hanging her head into her hands. Everything was messed up, so messed up. How did they get here, how did they get to this point. She wished she could go back to how she was feeling when she first woke up, before everything had to come crashing down on her. 

Had she not been so into her own world, and maybe not sobbing, she would have heard the door open, and footsteps approaching her.

“Clarke? Clarke what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Bellamy was crouched down in front of her, trying to pry her hands away from her face.

Once she finally let it sink in that Bellamy was here, he hadn’t left for good, she let him pull her hands away from her face, looking up into his face. His expression was one full of concern, concern for her.

She shook her head, willing the tears to stop. “I’m fine, sorry Bell. I just stubbed my toe. I’m fine.”

He looked at her like he didn’t believe her, but he didn’t press further. Bellamy turned away from her, reaching for something he must have set down on the counter when he came in.

How did he leave? They didn’t have their cars. But, before she could ask, he was talking.

“When I got up this morning, I didn’t have the heart to wake you. You looked so peaceful, plus I know how you are when you wake up after a night of drinking. When I came down to make us something, I noticed that the fridge was fully stocked, but I couldn’t find any Tylenol.” He paused, running his hand through his hair. She could tell he was nervous about all of this as well.  
“So I figured I’d see if O’s old bike was in the garage, and run into the small town and pick you up some. But, when I got outside, I saw my car sitting there with the keys in it and a note from O. She said she was sorry that it happened like it did, but she wasn’t sorry for forcing us to face each other.”.

Clarke didn't know what to say. She just sat there staring at him as he got her a bottle of water and the medicine he had gone to town for. This was the man that she had fallin in love with, without even knowing it. Her best friend that is constantly thinking of others needs.

“Thank you for going and getting me the Tylenol, I’d be lying if I said I don't have a headache right now.”

It was silent for a few moments, and she decided to do something she hasn’t done with him in a while. She decided to be honest and vulnerable.

“I thought you left….” She peeked up at him through her lashes. He was leaning up against the counter, his head whipped up at her words. But, before he could say anything in return, she continued.

“When I woke up, and everything came flooding back to me, I reached over for you. I thought that you had left. And I wouldn’t be able to blame you if you had. Just because last night meant something to me, doesn’t mean that it did to you.” She saw him push off the counter, mouth opening to say something. But she held up her hand, stopping him.

“You have someone, someone you obviously care a great deal about. I’m not mad about that Bell. I thought I was, but I’m not. I just needed time to sort out everything that has been going on up in this brain of mine. It was quite the shock to sit down with your sister, and come to the conclusion that I was in love with you. I never thought I would be saying that, but if I was going to, I didn’t think it would be to the younger Blake sibling.” She smiled up at him, “I don’t know how it took me so long to realize it, I think part of me has always loved you, I just couldn’t admit it to myself. But now that I do, you have someone else. Again, I’m not mad at you for that. I am happy for you. I want to continue being your friend, if you want that is. But I need you to understand that it’s going to take me some time to get used to all of this.” 

Clarke took a deep breath, she could see that Bellamy had a lot to say in return to her little speech, but she needed to finish. She needed to push through, or she might never get to.

“I know that last night caused a lot of issues for you. I am so sorry that I put you in the position that you are now in. You are not a cheater Bell, and I have turned you into that. I cannot tell you sorry enough. Whatever you choose, I understand. If I were Echo I wouldn’t want you to be around me, so if that’s what happens, I understand, and I don’t blame you.”

It hurt her to say that. Clarke could feel the tears forming, ready to poor out at any second.

“Clarke.” At the sound of his voice, the tears started to silently fall. His voice sounded like he was in pain. She wanted to look into his face, but couldn’t bring herself to. She didn’t want him to see just how much she was hurting. Bellamy was always trying to fix his friends, and she didn’t want to do that to him. He didn't need to feel sorry for the way she felt.

“Clarke, please look at me.” He was crouched down in front of her again, gently lifting her chin up to look into her face. She blinked away the tears that were blurring her vision.

“Are you done? Did you get everything out that you needed to with that little speech you just gave?”

Was he smirking? He was smirking. And here she was crying, feeling bad, not wanting to cause any more trouble for him. She yanked her face away from his touch. He just gave a chuckle.

“Listen here Clarke Griffin. It’s my turn to talk, and you have to sit there and take it all in.

BELLAMY’S POV

This woman. He couldn’t help but chuckle at her sparky attitude. 

“First off, I want to say thank you. You were so willing to just sacrifice your own feelings for the sake of my happiness. That means more than you know. It also proves that I made the right decision.” He could see the confusion on her face, but continued on.

“I can see by the look on your face, you are going to cut in very soon. So I am just going to lay it all out. Last night didn't mean something to me.” He hated the way her face fell, like he could see her heartbreaking right in front of him. “It meant everything to me. I am in love with you, and before you say anything about Echo, I need you to know that we ended a few weeks ago. As soon as I realized how she has been lying to you and to me, and I realized you were the one I wanted. I never asked her to move in, I never even gave her a key. She found the spare key. She lied to you, I never sent her over, or called your art studio junk. I told her to stay out of it. She is nothing compared to you. You are it for me Clarke Griffin.” 

He didn’t wait for her to respond, surging forward and kissing the woman he loves.


End file.
